D-Orbit, SpacePNT Sign Payload Hosting Contract for GNSS Receiver

Space transportation and logistics company D-Orbit has announced the signing of a hosted payload contract with SpacePNT, a Swiss company specializing in the design and manufacturing of low cost high-accuracy GNSS receivers for the New Space satellite market.

“ION’s ability to quickly integrate payloads and our flexible manifest enabled SpacePNT to move towards flight-qualification in record time.”

Renato Panesi, D-Orbit’s Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer.

The contract covers the integration of a new GNSS receiver prototype into the ION Satellite Carrier, D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), and a prolonged series of orbital tests that 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, and 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.

GNSS Receiver will Allow Tracking of the SpacePNT OTV

“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.

ION Satellite Carrier is a multi-purpose vehicle capable of carrying out within a single mission satellite transportation, payload hosting, and advanced in-orbit edge computing services.

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.

D-Orbit addresses the logistics needs of the space market. ION Satellite Carrier, for example, is a space vehicle that can transport satellites in orbit and release them individually into distinct orbital slots, reducing the time from launch to operations by up to 85% and the launch costs of an entire satellite constellation by up to 40%.

(Source: D-Orbit news release. Images from file)