SpaceX buys stake in UK microsat builder

Stellvia · Posted on: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:44 pm

From http://www.spacetoday.net/getarticle.php3?id=56496

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the British world-leader in low-cost rapid response small satellites, has announced the sale of a ten percent stake to California-based commercial rocket company SpaceX.

Rapid response and highly capable microsatellites and minisatellites are creating a new and potentially huge international market in low cost Earth observation, navigation, communications and space science missions for both civil and military applications.

The transaction enables the two companies to work together closely to achieve their shared vision of providing inexpensive and responsive access to space to meet this growing market demand.

SSTL, a highly innovative spinout company of the University of Surrey in the UK, has pioneered this new space field. Over the past two decades SSTL has produced reliable, high quality satellites at significantly lower costs by using advanced, terrestrial, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies which are adapted for use in the harsher conditions of space.

SSTL has in that time built and launched 23 small satellite missions for international customers, including the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of four satellites launched in 2003, which is currently taking daily images of tsunami-hit regions for relief agencies in Asia. The DMC is capable of imaging anywhere on Earth every 24 hours (compared to once every 10-20 days typical of other satellite systems), making it ideal for disaster relief missions.

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Stellvia Spaceflight Participant Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:42 pm Posts: 59	SpaceX buys stake in UK microsat builder Posted on: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:44 pm From http://www.spacetoday.net/getarticle.php3?id=56496 Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the British world-leader in low-cost rapid response small satellites, has announced the sale of a ten percent stake to California-based commercial rocket company SpaceX. Rapid response and highly capable microsatellites and minisatellites are creating a new and potentially huge international market in low cost Earth observation, navigation, communications and space science missions for both civil and military applications. The transaction enables the two companies to work together closely to achieve their shared vision of providing inexpensive and responsive access to space to meet this growing market demand. SSTL, a highly innovative spinout company of the University of Surrey in the UK, has pioneered this new space field. Over the past two decades SSTL has produced reliable, high quality satellites at significantly lower costs by using advanced, terrestrial, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies which are adapted for use in the harsher conditions of space. SSTL has in that time built and launched 23 small satellite missions for international customers, including the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of four satellites launched in 2003, which is currently taking daily images of tsunami-hit regions for relief agencies in Asia. The DMC is capable of imaging anywhere on Earth every 24 hours (compared to once every 10-20 days typical of other satellite systems), making it ideal for disaster relief missions.
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Sigurd Moon Mission Member Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2003 8:46 pm Posts: 1215 Location: Kapellen, Antwerp, Belgium, Europe, Planet Earth, the Milky Way Galaxy	Posted on: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:47 pm Thanks for the news I just released a news item on the front page about SpaceX, now I have to add an other _________________ Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. - Lord Kelvin, 1892
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