ESA & GomSpace sign satellite constellation management contract
GomSpace’s subsidiary in Luxembourg and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a €1,425,000 development contract for GomSpace Luxembourg SARL’s continued development of the Mega-Constellation Operations Platform (MCOP) product.
The development of MCOP began in 2018 under the first development contract and resulted in development of a minimum viable product focusing on scalability which was recently proven through the first operational deployment test.
Satellite mega-constellations are set to revolutionise satellite-based telecommunications services. Traditional satellite communication based on geo-stationary satellites in orbit at 36,000 km above the Equator imply a roundtrip delay of at least half a second. Mega-constellations of satellites in low orbit (around 1,000 km.) will reduce roundtrip delay to less than 100 milliseconds between most locations on earth. Moreover, the coverage, scalability, and flexibility properties of mega-constellations outperforms geo-stationary satellites.
The new contract will enable GomSpace to continually improve its satellite mega-constellation management and the MCOP. Additional features will be added, including:
- Constellation level simulation and planning to optimise operations
- Increased automation to reduce operator workloads
- Improved visualisation and constellation level situational awareness
“Our customers are increasingly paying attention to the scaling and operational aspects of their constellation plans. Given that our MCOP offering is developing according to plan, we are able to respond with a compelling solution helping our customers to achieve lower lifetime costs and improved return on investment,” said Niels Buus, CEO at GomSpace.
The contract is funded by the Luxembourg Space Agency through the Luxembourg National Space Programme LuxIMPULSE and it is being implemented through ESA.
Marc Serres of the Luxembourg Space Agency said: “We are pleased with GomSpace Luxembourg’s continued development as they are becoming an important part of the space ecosystem in Luxembourg and are bringing unique and innovative commercial offerings to the satcom market”.
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