Currently, the capabilities of the space industry are hidden behind a multitude of barriers: costs, restrictive rules to engage with satellite operators, gatekeeping behaviors of government agencies and individuals in charge. This limits “small league” commercial players from entering the market, where most of the future innovation will come from. For example, mobile developers today can develop a new iOS app with a spare iPhone and $100 AppStore fee. No such path exists in space industry to rapidly get a space service online, even in the smallsat sector.
Recently, Exodus Orbitals and Modularity Space joined forces and envision a future where every farm owner or every small business operator can have their own satellite mission on a sub $1,000 budget. A future where every amateur astronomer can afford dedicated time on real space telescope and a world that is connected even in the most remote and uninhabitable locations on Earth.
This partnership signifies the transitions from a single satellite hosting one mission for single customer, to hundreds of satellites hosting thousands of software-defined missions tailored to each specific customer. Within a few years, a farmer, a banker and an amateur hobbyist can all have their own mission from the comfort of their own home.
Exodus Orbitals and Modularity Space are officially announcing the start of ambitious new initiative: a “satellite-as-a-service” platform to run software applications in space, by combining the respective powers of both companies: software development and reusable space engineering. Millions of people worldwide will now have their chance at participating in the upcoming space rush, on par with national space agencies and large aerospace companies – as soon as 2022.
Exodus Orbitals specializes in the development of satellite virtualization solutions, allowing access to observation and processing capabilities in space through a seamless, hardware- and vendor-independent “satellite-as-a-service” business model, suitable for multiple satellites types in LEO and beyond. This space software technology has been space-qualified through a participation with the European Space Agency’s, OPS-SAT mission – a “software laboratory in space” satellite, a first of its kind.
Modularity Space is leading the transition to reusable space systems by building the first constellation of reusable satellites, named “The Neighborhood”. Commercial space companies and governments can rent satellite space on the network to host their constellations and technologies instead of developing their own satellites. This innovative “Satellite Rental” service, combined with Modularity Space’s proprietary reusable satellite technology will provide the fastest, easiest, and most affordable space platform every designed.