Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute (TPA-SI) at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, has tasked NanoAvionics to build two nanosatellite platforms, designed in partnership to support educational and technology demonstration missions. These two smallsats are the first commercial contract for NanoAvionics in New Zealand.
With a payload mass of up to 3 kg., developed by TPA-SI, NanoAvionics’s 3U smallsat bus “M3P” is an ideal vehicle for hosting small experiments for educational and science missions. Being pre-integrated (mechanically, electrically and functionally tested) and pre-qualified, it is ready for the payload integration, minimising procedures for final flight acceptance and flight readiness for the customer.
Vytenis J. Buzas, founder and CEO of NanoAvionics, said, “This contract with the University of Auckland, shortly after the deal with UNSW Sydney, signifies our continued strides and expansion into the Oceanian space market.”
NanoAvionics is a smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator currently based in four locations across the USA, UK and Lithuania. The company’s efforts are focused on enabling critical satellite functions and optimizing their hardware, launch and satellite operation costs by providing end-to-end small satellite solutions – ranging from single missions to constellations. Its core engineering team has implemented over 110 successful satellite missions and commercial projects during the past several years. With a modularity such as the fundamental principle of NanoAvionics systems’ architecture, NanoAvionics provides economic viability to a wide range of small satellite constellation-based missions, businesses and organizations worldwide. http://www.nanoavionics.com | Twitter: https://twitter.com/NanoAvionics
The University of Auckland and Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute — Founded in 1883, Auckland is the country’s largest university with over 40,000 students, nearly 10,000 of whom graduate annually. It conducts teaching and learning within eight faculties, two large-scale research institutes, and other institutes and centres. The University of Auckland has risen in the 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings – moving to sixth globally from ninth equal in 2021.
The Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute is a multidisciplinary center of expertise in space science and engineering at the University of Auckland, which aims to enhance the growth of the New Zealand space sector with world-leading applied research and development as well as educational programmes that shape the next generation of scientists and engineers.