SSG builds a revolutionay 200 Nano-satellites constellation

7 May, 2017

The company that was founded by 3 veterans of the Israeli space industry, will offer narrow-band communication services. This month it will launch its first nano-satellites

Sky and Space Global nano-satellites

A small startup company registered in Britain is planing to revolutionize world’s Space Communication Services by using a huge constellation of ultra small and cheap nano-satellites. Sky and Space Global is the first company to utilize nano-satellites to build a proprietary communications network.

The Company is planning to launch a constellation of 200 nano-satellites by 2020, providing full coverage of the equatorial areas of South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. It will allow telecom operators and connectivity service providers to deliver affordable narrow-band services to remote locations.

This month the company begin the first phase of the constellation building: Last week it raised A$10 million in the Australian stock market ASX, and in the coming weeks it will launch the first 3 nano-satellites (called “Diamond” nano-satellites) on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). These will be CubeSat type 3U satellites (10 x 10 x 30 cm), and will be followed later by bigger nano-satellites.

The first three nano satellites during the integration phase
The “Three Diamonds” during the integration stage at Gomspace

According to Frost & Sullivan ” Sky and Space Global is the first company to utilize nano-satellites in a constellation format to deliver affordable, reliable, narrow-band services to users in remote locations across the equator.

“Its network of 150-200 nano-satellites will enable a varied set of service providers to deliver narrow-band [S-band] connectivity to voice and data consumers. It will be the first small-satellite operator to deploy nano-satellites to offer augmented and elementary connectivity services.”

New Paradigm in Space Services

The company was founded by three veterans from Israeli Space Industry: The CEO Meir Moalem is a former jet fighter pilot of the IAF, and served as the head of Space Systems Branch in the Israeli Air Force. The CTO Meidad Pariente was the Deputy Mission Manager of AMOS-2 satellite, Chief systems engineer of AMOS-3 and special engineering advisor for AMOS-5, launched in 2011.

Pariente was also the chief systems engineer and led a team of Israeli engineers and scientists designing the VENUS project, an Israeli-French hyperspectral satellite. The COO Maya Glickman is a satellite mission analyst, orbit designer, and satellite operating expert. She was a Senior Satellite Engineer of communications satellites with Israel Aerospace Industries and part of the AMOS-3 development team.

SSG's founders photo: Maya Glickman, Meidad Pariente and Meir Moalem
From left to right: Maya Glickman, Meidad Pariente and Meir Moalem

The nano-satellites of Sky and Space Global are built by Gomspace from Denmark, while the company deals mainly with the innovative Autonomous Management system. The company has already secured a commercial agreement for the first phase of the “three diamonds”, and had signed a launch contract with Virgin Galactic for the rest of its constellation, planned to be completed by 2020.

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