Kleos Space (ASX: KSS, Frankfurt: KS1) has announced that, as part of the expansion of the firm’s constellation, a contract has been signed with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to manifest a cluster of Kleos satellites on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch that is scheduled for mid-2021.
This will be the second cluster to be launched by Kleos, following the first four Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites that are in the Sriharikota Range in India, awaiting launch on PSLV C49 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
This mission will be named Polar Vigilance Mission and is a cluster of four satellites, launching into a 500 km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The Polar Vigilance Mission will enhance the company’s RF geolocation data delivered by the Kleos Scouting Mission by covering areas North and South of the Scouting Mission 37-degree inclined orbit in addition to increasing overall coverage time in the equatorial region.
Kleos’ objective is to own, launch and operate up to a maximum of 20 clusters of satellites creating a constellation that provides critical coverage for monitoring global events and key locations of interest.
The Kleos business model is to create subscription-based revenues from delivery of essential data to government and commercial entities around the globe. Kleos will be the first company to fly clusters of four satellites to accurately detect and locate the usage of the RF spectrum by legitimate and illegitimate actors.
The data is collected and downlinked from the satellites then processed through the Company’s proprietary algorithms. Once ‘packaged’ into data products and transferred to Kleos’ licensed subscribers ‘as-a-service,’ the same data can be sold unlimited times creating annuity type revenues.
Kleos will ultimately aim to provide refresh rates of near real-time which will require a small constellation of no more than 20 satellite clusters delivering highly useful operational capability. The timeline for building up to a constellation will be driven by customer demand, i.e., required revisit times or geographic areas of interest.
Executive Comment
Andy Bowyer, CEO of Kleos, said, “Our vision is to deliver a trustworthy, cost effective, reconnaissance data product with revisit rates that will help disrupt illegal activities, protect borders and save lives. The launch of the Polar Vigilance Mission means we take another step on that journey, collecting more data, over new areas opening additional markets whilst also providing a higher value product for our existing customer base.”
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