Contract awarded for development of future UK space control system
Lockheed Martin and UK company Rhea will develop a satellite control system as part of Project Beroe which will help control the country’s future ISTARI constellation.
The contracts with the companies, worth £4 million (US$5 million), are for the development of software for satellite system management, designed to capture and process onboard system data to control and monitor the performance of the satellite.
The programme will assist the MOD to understand how best to control its future constellation of low orbit general purpose Earth observation satellites.
Commodore David Moody, head of space capability at UK Space Command said: “This project will help define and understand how we will control and optimise the use of our satellites in a safe and sustainable way, while also supporting the wider goal of enabling growth in the Space Sector to develop resilient space capabilities and services.”
The MoD is using its Rapid Agile Prototyping, Scaled for Operations (RAPSO) commercial framework, which includes a series of Agile software development releases and work on the project is to be completed and demonstrated in 2025.
As part of the effort Lockheed Martin will use its Integrated Multi-Mission Ground (IM2G) product which is designed to support diverse space missions, orbital regimes and constellation sizes with mature, reconfigurable components and technologies within a hardened ground system.
IM2G uses Lockheed Martin’s Compass Mission Planning and Horizon C2 software, which allows single satellite or entire constellation management and can support fleets of similar or entirely different missions and satellite types.
More from Digital Battlespace
-
Push for greater use of open source data, says senior British officer
The huge amount of open source data available may not carry the weight of secret sources but it does carry substantial value, according to speakers at Defence IQ C4ISR Global conference in London.
-
Jacobs wins MoD cyber-security support contract
The deal with Jacobs will run until November 2027 and will see the company deliver a range of digital and IT specialist professional services to Defence Digital.
-
Orbit upgrades two multi-purpose terminals and carries out land testing
The communications company has upgraded two of its Beyond Line-of-Sight Multi-Purpose Terminals (MBTs) by introducing advancements in satellite communication technology and AI-driven maintenance capabilities.
-
Norway to receive maritime surveillance satellite data from Kongsberg
Norway's Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace has announced that its subsidiary Kongsberg NanoAvionics will produce three satellites and launch them in 2025.
-
First South Korean 425 Project observation satellite launched
In 2015, South Korea named a consortium of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Hanwha Systems, along with Thales Alenia Space providing the SAR payload derived from its HE-R1000 product, as preferred bidder to develop new Korea 425 Project reconnaissance satellites.