AAC Clyde Space SDaaS satellite successfully launched by SpaceX

AAC Clyde Space SDaaS satellite successfully launched by SpaceX
by Staff Writers
Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Apr 16, 2023

EPICHyper-1, a 6U AAC Clyde Space EPIC VIEW satellite, was successfully launched on the SpaceX Transporter 7 mission on April 15, 2023. The satellite will deliver Earth observation data to Canadian company Wyvern Inc., under an exclusive Space Data as a Service (SDaaS) deal. It is planned to be followed by the launch of a further two 6U satellites during 2023.

The satellite lifted off on the Falcon 9 rocket on April 14, 2023 from the Space Launch Complex 4E in Vandenberg, California. The Transporter 7 mission is a dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.

The project leverages a SDaaS model in which AAC Clyde Space owns and operates the three satellites under a GBP 8.4m (approx. SEK 108m) contract signed in 2021. After the first four years, the contract can be extended on an annual basis.

The satellites will generate revenue for AAC Clyde Space once they start to deliver data. This first satellite is expected to start delivering data during the second quarter of 2023. The other two satellites under the contract are expected to be delivered and launched in 2023.

Once deployed, the satellite will add significantly to AAC Clyde Space's SDaaS revenue, thereby representing yet another significant milestone for the Group. It follows the launch in January 2023 of the first of two satellites dedicated to delivering AIS data to ORBCOMM, also under a SDaaS model, supporting the Group's shift towards a recurring revenue model.

"We are delighted to confirm the successful launch of the satellite and are looking forward to our second significant SDaaS project starting to deliver data, this time enabling smarter farming. The transformation of AAC Clyde Space continues," says AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes.

By the end of 2023, AAC Clyde Space is expected to own a total of 11 satellites dedicated to delivering data from space, a number that is planned to increase further over the coming years.

AAC Clyde Space components onboard ESA's Jupiter mission
AAC Clyde Space has been part of the team developing the SWI instrument onboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter mission JUICE, that started travelling to its destination after launching from French Guinea onboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

AAC Clyde Space's subsidiary AAC Omnisys has had a key role in the development of the Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument (SWI), one of 10 instruments onboard the spacecraft. Apart from Omnisys, Chalmers and AB Low Noise Factory from Sweden, have also been involved in developing the instrument, in a project headed by the Max Planck Institute in Germany and parties from a total of 10 countries.

The SWI is a spectrometer that will investigate the temperature difference, composition and dynamics of Jupiter's atmosphere, exosphere and the surfaces of the icy moons. AAC Omnisys has been involved in the project since the start in 2009 assisting with system design and definition of various subsystems. Specifically, AAC Omnisys has contributed with a 600 GHz receiver based on integrated Schottky diode technology developed at the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience at the Chalmers University of Technology, and integrated cryogenic amplifiers from Low Noise Factory AB, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Thereto two broadband spectrometers based on Omnisys proprietary full custom ASIC technology were also delivered. The circuits provide a performance that is ten times better than previous technologies' and enable more scientific research results.

"Today, we are celebrating that we are part of this prestigious project, ESA's largest space mission to date. It is breath-taking to realize that our components are set to reach as far out into the universe as to Jupiter. Naturally, we are proud that AAC Omnisys was selected for this mission based on their profound expertise and unrivalled track record," says AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes.

JUICE is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031.The vessel will enter orbit around Jupiter and make 35 flybys of the moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Thereafter, ESA will use Jupiter's immense gravity to steer the spacecraft into orbit around the largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. Finally, the spacecraft will enter an orbit around Ganymede, where it will also crash.

For at least three years, JUICE will conduct detailed studies of the largest icy moons in the Jupiter system. The scientists hope that the mission will provide answers to how a solar system can arise and whether there are conditions for life under the frozen oceans on Jupiter's moons.