EPIC Missions

Io-1

AAC Clyde Space has been selected by Iota Technology to execute an end-to-end satellite mission as part of MagQuest, a multimillion-dollar competition to advance how to measure Earth’s magnetic field.

The Io-1 mission will see a 4U EPIC satellite, equipped with Iota Technology’s magnetometer payload, launched to measure the Earth’s magnetic field. AAC Clyde Space will handle the manufacturing, launch, commissioning and operation of the satellite for a 3-year period.

Lusospace Constellation

AAC Clyde Space are delivering 11 satellite kits to Portuguese company LusoSpace in 2024. The EPIC 8U variant will be co-designed by AAC Clyde Space and LusoSpace, and built in Portugal. LusoSpace intends to combine the EPIC 8U satellites into a VDES communication constellation, to be launched late 2025. The order follows an initial order for a 3U satellite received earlier in Q4, 2023. The satellites will be equipped with a VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) payload. VDES was developed to meet the increasing need for data communication between maritime users, providing faster data transfer rates with greater integrity than current VHF data link systems.

Ymir-1

The Ymir-1 satellite serves as an in-orbit demonstrator with a specific mission – to provide essential data, laying the groundwork for data exploration and the development of VDES application services. The spacecraft is part of the collaborative AOS project that is developing the next generation of space based VDES, bringing together AAC Clyde Space, ORBCOMM and Saab. The ultimate aim of AOS is to create a global maritime communication network enabling ship to ship and ship to shore communication everywhere on the globe.

Intuition-1

The mission aimed to offer the first satellite with processing capability to segment hyperspectral images in orbit. Traditionally used in the mining industry, hyperspectral imaging is increasingly being used in a variety of applications and KP Labs envisage future use for its technology in applications ranging from agriculture, forestry and mining to environmental protection and defence. AAC Clyde Space was selected by KP Labs to deliver a 6U satellite for the mission Intuition-1. This mission for KP Labs and the Polish FP Space Consortium is a perfect example of ground-breaking applications that are being enabled by highly capable, very small satellites. The main payload, which is an advanced hyperspectral imager, will demonstrate next-generation imaging technology from space.

MIR-SAT-1

AAC Clyde Space delivered Mauritius’ first satellite, a 1U CubeSat (MIR-SAT-1), to the Mauritius Research & Innovation Council (MRIC) in 2021. The satellite was designed in collaboration with MRIC’s Engineers and built in AAC Clyde Space’s Glasgow facilities and was delivered to JAXA to be deployed from the Japanese Experiment Module, KiboCUBE, on the ISS. MIR-Sat-1 has helped develop knowledge on satellite technology and on how to efficiently collect and process land and ocean data from space. This project is an important step in helping Mauritius to establish its own space infrastructure to tackle issues of national priority identified by its government. MIR-SAT1 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere April 2022. MRIC have stated the MIR-SAT1 mission has been a success on all fronts.

ELO-3 & ELO-4

As part of Eutelsat’s ELO project, we delivered two 6U CubeSats, for launch in 2021, which will enter commercial service as soon as they are delivered into orbit. The payloads for the spacecraft, built around a sophisticated Software Defined Radio, were developed in-house. These satellites will host the first propulsion systems onboard AAC Clyde Space satellites, enabling in-orbit manoeuvres. If proven successful, Eutelsat plans to expand the mission into a full commercial constellation of 25 satellites dedicated to IoT services.

AMBER Phoenix

We’re delivering a full turnkey solution to Horizon Space Technologies, including launch, operations and data delivery. The satellites will become part of Horizon Space Technologies’ Amber™ constellation, which is dedicated to delivering Maritime Domain Awareness intelligence data. The mission provides a commercial service and may be extended to include more than 10 additional Amber™ CubeSats. The mission is a follow-on order from the Satellite Applications Catapult IOD programme (IOD-3 AMBER), for which AAC Clyde Space delivered a 6U CubeSat.

SeaHawk

AAC Clyde Space were part of the Sustained Ocean Color Observations using Nanosatellites project, a collaboration between the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Cloudland Instruments and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, to design, manufacture, launch and operate SeaHawk-1, a 3U CubeSat with HawkEye Ocean Color Sensors. The aim of the project was to observe the changing biology of the ocean surface. Seahawk was launched in 2018 and operated from AAC Clyde Space’s Glasgow Operations Centre, with instrument data downloaded to NASA Wallops facility, through the satellite’s X-band downlink. The data was integrated into NASA’s SeaWiFS Data Analysis System and distributed worldwide by the NASA Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center. The data gathered by SeaHawk enabled greater understanding of the marine food chain, oceanic climate, fisheries and pollution phenomena. This information is vital to our ability to monitor and support the health and sustainability of our oceans.

PICASSO

AAC Clyde Space delivered a 3U scientific CubeSat, PICASSO (Pico-Satellite for Atmospheric and Space Science Observations), an earth observation demonstration mission for the European Space Agency. PICASSO monitored sunlight filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere to check the health of our ozone layer and map ozone concentration profiles. Science missions such as PICASSO monitor in real time and send data back to Earth for analysis, making a vital contribution to our understanding of the ozone layer and ultimately to its preservation.

IOD-1 GEMS

We delivered a 6U satellite as well as associated services such as launch and commissioning to Orbital Micro Systems (OMS). This follows the in-orbit success of IOD-1 GEMS, a 3U satellite, produced by AAC Clyde Space carrying a payload from OMS, in a demonstration mission financed by the UK Satellite Applications Catapult. The 6U satellite will be included in the company’s commercial GEMS programme that will deliver accurate and timely weather information to businesses worldwide, helping to meet the needs of users in aviation, insurance, agriculture, commodities and several other industries.

NSLSat-2

We delivered a full end-to-end mission to NSLComm, from manufacturing, customer payload integration, launching, commissioning and operating the satellite to delivering a ground segment software solution. The spacecraft aimed to demonstrate highly disruptive technology providing Ka-band communications from space. This ground-breaking dish-shaped antenna, which deploys itself once in space, is set to inspire a wide array of new IoT applications within the industry. AAC Clyde Space delivered a 6U satellite, NSLSat-1, to NSLComm in 2019. The new satellite, NSLSat-2, is the first satellite of an intended commercial constellation.