Horizon Aerospace Technologies, a subsidiary of Horizon Technologies, has announced an approximately $1 million sale of FlyingFish airborne SIGINT systems to a European prime contractor for a Southern European government end-user. The systems will be operated on manned ISR fixed-wing aircraft to support NATO and EU missions in the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Africa.
John Beckner, CEO, Horizon Technologies said, “We are happy to add another end-user to the list of countries who operate our FlyingFish and new BlackFish SIGINT systems. FlyingFish is in operation 24/7 around the globe saving refugees, combating illegal fishing, piracy, terrorism, and transshipments. There is also a great deal of interest in our upcoming Amber smallsat launch.”
Recently, Horizon Technologies completed its Series A funding round with Maven Capital Partners and Virgin Money.
Horizon Aerospace Technologies is a leader in airborne Sat Phone monitoring systems for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications, equipping governments worldwide by enhancing their SIGINT capabilities. The firm is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the FlyingFish BlackFish SIGINT systems that are in operation on numerous platforms across the glove. The company participates daily in SAR missions via NATO and FRONTEX in the Mediterranean Sea and are heavily involved in international operations around the globe. Horizon Space Technologies is the prime contractor for the UK Government’s Amber program that will consist of Amber cubesats in multiple orbital planes, providing global Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) data to NMIC (led by the Royal Navy).
Regarding the Amber satellite from Horizon Space Technologies, earlier this past summer, AAC Clyde Space (AAC) won a £4.6 million order for a full turnkey solution from Horizon Space Technologies, including two new satellite launches, operations and data delivery.
The satellites will become part of the Horizon Space Technologies’ Amber constellation dedicated to delivering MDA intelligence data.
The EPIC-6U smallsats will be able to locate and track vessels worldwide by geolocating and demodulating RF signals in a system that can be used to fight piracy, illegal trans-shipments, illegal fishing, and refugee smuggling, but can also be used for other purposes such as detecting and tracking a variety of RF emitters.
The mission delivers a commercial service and may be extended to include more than ten (10) additional Amber smallsats. Horizon Space Technologies’ first customer is the UK National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) in Portsmouth.
The two satellites in this order are scheduled for launch in the second half of 2022. This order is a follow-on order from the Satellite Applications Catapult IOD program (IOD-3 AMBER), for which AAC will also deliver a 6U cubesat to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 for deployment.
“We are looking forward to expanding our current partnership with AAC Clyde Space as we move forward with more launches and advanced versions of our mission payload. They are a key part of the Amber team,” said Horizon Technologies CEO, John Beckner.