Kleos Completes Key Satellite Development Milestone for Mid-year SpaceX Launch

Kleos Space S.A., a Luxembourg-based space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance (RF) data-as-a-service (DaaS) company, has confirmed that its second satellite cluster, the Polar Vigilance Mission (KSF1), has successfully completed a hardware critical design review milestone for a mid-year launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.

Passing this milestone ensures that Kleos’ Polar Vigilance Mission satellites can enter the assembly and verification phase, which in turn leads to the final integration, testing and delivery of the satellites for launch.

The KSF1 Polar Vigilance Mission satellites are scheduled for a mid-2021 launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc. The satellites will be launched into a 500-600km Sun Synchronous Orbit, complementing Kleos’ Scouting Mission 37o orbit, which successfully launched in early November 2020 and are in the commission and test phase.

Kleos’ satellites will detect and geolocate radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity-based intelligence, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities when tracking systems are defeated, imagery unclear or targets out of patrol range.

Satellite developer ISISPACE has been conducting the design progress in the Netherlands. 

Kleos Space CEO Andy Bowyer commented: “We are excited to be progressing our second satellite cluster with ISISPACE – a leader in the small satellite market. Entering the assembly and verification phase of the satellites is a crucial developmental milestone and ensures we are on schedule to launch in mid-2021. The KSF1 satellite cluster will complement our Scouting Mission satellites, increasing the value of our geolocation maritime intelligence data”.

Jeroen Rotteveel, CEO of ISISPACE, added: "We are pleased to design and build this second satellite cluster for Kleos, to be completed on a fast-track schedule made possible by building on our extensive nanosatellite expertise and heritage. Despite the challenging timeline due to the current global situation, we are keen to enter this next crucial phase of satellite assembly and validation and bringing our design to reality”.