• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured
  • More News ⌄
    • SatNews
    • SatMagazine
    • MilSatMagazine
  • Events ⌄
    • MilSat Symposium
    • SmallSat Symposium
    • Satellite Innovation
  • Contacts
  • SUBSCRIPTION

SmallSat News

You are here: Home / News / Kleos Space Reports Successful Contact With Their Patrol Mission Smallsats

Kleos Space Reports Successful Contact With Their Patrol Mission Smallsats

April 19, 2022 by editorial

Kleos Space S.A (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1) has confirmed that the first two Patrol Mission satellites (KSF2-C and KSF2-D) were successfully deployed from D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) and contact has been established.

The remaining two Patrol satellites (KSF2-A and KSF3-B) are expected to be deployed into a different orbit from the transfer vehicle in the coming weeks to establish the four satellites’ formation.

The Patrol Mission (KSF2) satellites feature enhanced hardware and software, significantly increasing data collection capability by an additional 119 million km² per day and improving revisit rates. Image is courtesy of Kleos Space.

D-Orbit’s orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) is a self-propelled satellite deployer. Carrying Kleos’ four Patrol Mission satellites, it was successfully launched into a 500 km. SSO from Cape Canaveral in Florida aboard the SpaceX Transporter-4 mission on April 1st. Kleos’ technical team has established bi-directional communication with the KSF2-C and KSF2-D satellites, and on-orbit system commissioning has commenced.

As all four satellites are deployed from the orbital transfer vehicle, satellite developer Innovative Solutions In Space (ISIPACE) will assist with Launch and Early Operation Phase (LEOP) support, including uploading and testing payload software, re-calibrating the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), and maneuvering the satellites into their operational formation. Improvements to the Patrol Mission’s flight software is expected to significantly reduce commissioning times.

The Patrol Mission expands Kleos’ LEO constellation to 12 satellites and increases radio frequency data collection capability to 253 million km² per day. The cluster features new frequency spectrum capabilities, enabling geolocation of X-Band radar transmissions in the 8500 -9600 MHz range, commonly used for maritime vessel traffic control.

Kleos Space CTO, Vincent Furia, said, “D-Orbit’s orbital transfer vehicle enables us to precisely deploy our nanosatellite cluster into orbit. By deploying pairs of satellites into two slightly different orbital planes, it enables us to establish our four satellites’ formation more quickly, while also saving propellent. Our third satellite cluster almost doubles our constellation’s data collection capability and improves revisit rates over key areas of interest. The Patrol Mission satellites add the ability to geolocate X-Band radar frequencies to further enhance our existing maritime situational awareness capabilities. Our constellation geolocates radio frequency transmissions to improve the detection of illegal activity, providing unprecedented intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities when tracking systems such as AIS have been switched off.”

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019

© 2019–2023 SatNews

x
Sign Up Now!

Enjoy a free weekly newsletter with recent headlines from the global SmallSat industry.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing! You will now receive weekly SmallSat News updates.
We love our advertisers.
And you will too!

Please disable Ad Blocker to continue... We promise to keep it unobtrusive.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.