Feb 28, 2017 | By Julia
The Polish company SatRevolution S.A. has just announced plans for the country’s first satellite production facility that will collaborate with foreign industry players in the production of small spacecrafts. SatRevolution’s Swiatowid will be the first commercial satellite produced in Poland, with two Rusalka PhoneSat nanosatellites soon to follow.
“By the end of 2017, we want to acquire at least 40 million zloty (approximately $10 million USD) to develop a HiPER spectrometer and build a production facility that will make satellites and module satellite components,” said Radoslaw Lapczynski, co-founder of SatRevolution.
A planned SatRevolution satellite
Exact dates and investment numbers remain uncertain at the moment, although SatRevolution is currently in talks with potential investors including the European Union. “The exact date [of the launch] will depend on the availability of acquired funds,” Lapczynski said.
Still, SatRevolution is ploughing ahead with plans for the new satellite plant. The Polish company has already established a partnership with APworks, an additive manufacturing firm based in Germany and subsidiary of Airbus Group. APworks will be responsible for developing and 3D printing the Swiatowid prototype, which will measure 10 cm x 10 cm x 20 cm, and weigh 2 kg. The two Rusalka nanosatellites will each weigh approximately 0.3 kg.
According to Lapczynski, satellite functions will include communications, imaging, spectrometering, and research. The Swiatowid, for instance, will measure cosmic radiation and electromagnetic interference.
The production facility itself is to be located near Wroclaw, a city of 630,000 residents in the south-west of Poland. The plant will house several production halls and cleanrooms, says Lapczynski. By strategically locating the facility in Wroclaw’s EIT+ Research Center, SatRevolution hopes to gain tax breaks and co-funding from the EU. The project will be worth a total of 200 million zloty or $50 million USD.
Alongside the APworks partnership, SatRevolution is also in negotiations with Interorbital Systems, a California-based manufacturer of rockets, satellites, and spacecrafts. Although Interorbital has only launched low-altitude sounding rockets to date, the company has signed on to launch Synergy Moon’s lunar lander on Interorbital’s Neptune rocket.
In the meantime, SatRevolution is still on the lookout for more private investors. “In the future, we will surely want to continue our cooperation with foreign suppliers and contractors, also to reach orbit, as it is not possible to make this happen from Poland’s territory,” Lapczynski said.
SatRevolution has announced it will start testing its satellites this coming June. The first launch is scheduled for early 2018.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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