NanoAvionics

Last updated
NanoAvionics Corp
IndustryAerospace Engineering, Nanosatellite Buses
Founded1 January 2014  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Vytenis J. Buzas (CEO) [1]
Owner Kongsberg Gruppen (77%)
Website nanoavionics.com

NanoAvionics Corp is a small satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator founded as a spin-off from Vilnius University, Lithuania in 2014.

Contents

Overview

The company specializes in production of small satellite buses and development of commercial and scientific satellite missions: mission design, hardware assembly, integration and verification, testing campaigns, standardized products (highly integrated communication, on-board computer, attitude determination and control systems, solar panels, structural elements), modular chemical propulsion systems. [2] It markets four multipurpose satellite buses: M16P, M12P, M6P and M3P made to confirm to 16U, 12U, 6U and 3U Cubesat standards correspondingly. Also, it offers modular microsatellite bus MP42 (up to 115 kg).

In 2018, AST & Science acquired a controlling interest in NanoAvionics, and its CEO Abel Avellan became chairman of the board. [3]

In 2022, Kongsberg Gruppen acquired 77 per cent of the company. AST & Science divested all its shares, while the management of NanoAvionics retained 23 percent. [4]

Implemented missions

The NanoAvionics core engineering team has also implemented over 150 successful commercial missions [23] [24] and sold their products and services to over 50 countries. [25]

Research and development

NanoAvionics Corp has been awarded a grant from EU's Horizon 2020 and ESA (among others) for developing a global IoT constellation-as-a-service aimed at IoT/M2M communication providers. [26]

NanoAvionics Corp has also been awarded a grant from EC under research and innovation program "Horizon2020" for the project "Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites (EPSS) Market". [27] The purpose of this project is to carry out a feasibility study for proposed propulsion system market potential and develop a business model for product development. Suggested new propulsion system is important for small satellite market suggesting green chemical propulsion system which makes use of an environmentally friendly propellant, and is a low cost integral plug and play design offering great economic advantages to the growing small satellite market, which presently suffers from the unavailability of a low cost, high performance propulsion solution. [27] It is expected that the new technology will improve the precision and prolong the orbit lifetime of a satellite up to 5x: from 3–4 months up till 15–18. [28]

NanoAvionics Corp, together with the National Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC), Lithuania, also carried out a project on innovative catalytic materials for miniaturized monopropellant thruster systems. [29]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small satellite</span> Satellites of low mass and size, usually under 500 kg

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space tug</span> Spacecraft used to transfer cargo from one orbit to another

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">PhoneSat</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LituanicaSAT-2</span> 3U Lithuanian CubeSat satellite

LituanicaSAT-2 is a 3U Lithuanian CubeSat satellite launched on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. This mission is led by Vilnius University in cooperation with NanoAvionics and is a part of the international "QB50" mission. LituanicaSAT-2 is an in-orbit technology demonstration mission during which the propulsion system prototype for small satellites will be tested. The satellite was deployed in Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 475 km.

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NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) Project is a series of tech demonstrations of technologies aboard a series of nanosatellites known as CubeSats, providing significant enhancements to the performance of these versatile spacecraft. Each of the five planned PTD missions consist of a 6-unit (6U) CubeSat with expandable solar arrays.

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EnduroSat AD is a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Sofia. It was founded in 2015 by Raycho Raychev. The company designs, builds, and operates CubeSats and Nanosatellites for commercial and scientific missions and is developing inter-satellite linking and data applications. EnduroSat was nominated as one of the top 5 small satellite start-ups.

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SatRev S.A. is a Polish company established in 2016, that specialises in building small, lightweight, nanosatellites. The company was listed in the NASA's "State of the Art Small Spacecraft Technology" report as one of 12 in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOSSA Systems</span> Satellite manufacturing company

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This is a list of satellites of Turkey.

References

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