D-Orbit recently signed a hosted payload contract with SpacePNT, a Swiss company that specializes in the design and manufacturing of low cost, high-accuracy, GNSS receivers for the New Space satellite market.
The contract covers the integration of a new GNSS receiver prototype into ION Satellite Carrier, D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle (OTV). A prolonged series of orbital tests will validate the ability of the receiver to estimate the position and velocity of ION throughout its lifetime, its ability to perform in-flight firmware and software updates as well as its long-term survivability in a space environment.
SpacePNT will have the option to operate beyond the contractually established operation package through a pay-per-use pricing scheme based on usage and data transfer.
SpacePNT’s GNSS payload will be integrated on the upcoming SCV010, the 10th satellite carrier launched by D-Orbit since 2020, which is scheduled for flight in Q2 2023.
ION Satellite Carrier is a multi-purpose vehicle capable of carrying out within a single mission satellite transportation, payload hosting, and advanced on-orbit edge computing services.
“We are excited to partner with SpacePNT for a mission that will provide us precise time and position of our OTV during its mission,” said Renato Panesi, D-Orbit’s Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “ION’s ability to quickly integrate payloads and our flexible manifest enabled SpacePNT to move towards flight-qualification in record time.”
“Partnering with D-Orbit is a huge asset for our development, going beyond the IOV step, allowing to demonstrate survivability, maintainability and performance through D-Orbit expertise and D-Orbit infrastructure,” said Cyril Botteron, SpacePNT’s Co-Founder and Director.