Former oil and gas turned space technology company Burleson Energy has achieved a major milestone in its relatively short time in the space technology business.
Burleson recently announced that it would acquire an Israeli based “nano-satellite’ company known as Sky and Space Global (SSG) in a backdoor listing process that would also see the company raise $4m.
This week SSG executed a major part of its business plan by signing a binding contract with respected Danish nano-satellite manufacturer GomSpace to commence building 3 trial nano-satellites.
The company intends to launch its first three nano-satellites mid 2017 in a proof of concept trial designed to be a precursor to the launch of a 200 strong “constellation” of nano-satellites.
SSG intends to enter the $5b global satellite telecommunications market by using its own network of nano-satellites to provide voice and text capabilities to remote locations and other niche markets such as shipping and the airline industry.
And this isn’t SSG’s first rodeo.
The Israeli team behind SSG are revered in the space business having built and successfully launched Israel’s first nano-satellite known as “Duchifat -1” in 2014 with the Herzliya Space Centre.
That satellite is still communicating back to earth today.
In fact SSG Founders’ Meidad Pariente and Maya Glickman were the team leaders in the design, construction and testing of Duchifat-1 and were instrumental in its mission planning, launch control and building its operating software control systems.
Nano-Satellites are a relatively new technology that provide for a much cheaper construction , more cost effective launch and more efficient ongoing maintenance regime than traditional large satellites.
In the ten years of nano-satellite launches prior to 2014, only 75 units were launched. However as the commercial benefits of these miniature satellites started to become obvious, those launch rates increased significantly with 94 units launched in a three month period from November 2013 to January 2014 alone.
SSG’s CEO Mr. Meir Moalem said “Execution of the binding construction contract of our first 3 Nano-Satellites is the direct result of the intensive work SSG team have been doing for the past 2 years in designing the space system, defining exact technical specifications, considering trade-offs, risk mitigation and business model. We are very happy to have secured the services of a company such as GomSpace, who are a world leader in NanoSatellites technology, construction and solutions”.
By Matt Birney
