London, United Kingdom — July 22, 2024: Lúnasa, a UK-based startup building key enabling systems and services for accelerating the in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) industry, announced today the signing of a grant contract worth £1m with the UK Space Agency (UKSA), under the National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) Major projects. This contract, which is in partnership with Orbit Fab, a leader in providing satellite refuelling services, is focused on co-engineering, integrating, and testing Lúnasa’s autonomous Rendezvous Proximity Operations (RPO) kit around Orbit Fab’s UK-built satellite docking and refuelling interface (GRASP). Moreover, during this development, Lúnasa will deploy its first space mission to validate its RPO Kit and perform a first-of-its-kind UK-built commercial satellite close proximity demonstration.
Earth’s orbit becomes increasingly congested with a rapidly growing number of malfunctioning satellites. Legacy RPO capabilities are historically associated with the likes of NASA and cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS). To support, now more than ever, critical space sustainability missions such as Active Debris Removal, Satellite Life Extension, Space Situational/Domain Awareness (SSA/SDA), and Collision Avoidance, Lúnasa is designing and building a highly autonomous vision-based spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) system that will be integrated by satellite primes, operators and launch service providers to enable in-orbit servicing missions which involve cooperative RPO. This project, dubbed Proximus Prime, is focused on further advancing Lúnasa’s RPO technology towards commercial operations by utilising ground and space tech demonstration missions.
Amin Chabi, Founder and CEO of Lúnasa said: “While the UK is well-positioned to lead the fast-growing ISAM market, Lúnasa’s affordable and advanced RPO Kit will be an enabling technology for the industry. This funding will accelerate our mission, which is making space operations sustainable by qualifying our RPO Kit and unlocking several commercial opportunities for Lúnasa.”
“We are also thrilled to be teaming up with Orbit Fab on this project. We share the same vision of space sustainability and with this partnership we reinforce our strategic investment in the UK, strengthening our position as an accelerator for in-orbit satellite services.”
Jacob Geer, the Managing Director of Orbit Fab in the UK and Europe, said: “It is a pleasure to be working with Lunasa Proximus Prime. They share our vision for building a bustling and sustainable orbital economy by refuelling satellites rather than throwing them away. Lunasa’s Rendevous and Proximity Operations capability promises to be a great match for our technology development pathway. We are looking forward to working together on this project and reaching orbit together in future.
Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said: “The National Space Innovation Programme will help kickstart growth, create high-quality jobs, protect our planet and preserve the space environment for future generations. New projects like this one, led by Lúnasa, go to the heart of what we want to achieve as a national space agency that supports cutting-edge innovation, spreads opportunity across the UK and delivers the benefits of space back to citizens on Earth”.
About Lúnasa Space:
Lúnasa Space, a UK-based space-tech startup founded by Amin Chabi, is focused on making space operations safe and sustainable by building autonomous satellite navigation solutions. The venture-backed company, with expertise in navigation, space systems, and satellite operations, has won several awards since its formation in March 2021 and is now working with the global space industry to pave the way to enable in-orbit satellite services.
About Orbit Fab:
Orbit Fab is a US-Headquartered company with a European branch located in the UK, was founded in 2018 to eliminate the single-use spacecraft paradigm with in-space refuelling. With the mission to build the in-space propellant supply chain, the company completed the first commercial resupply of water to the International Space System, launched Tanker-001, a 35 kg satellite used to test the refuelling system for its depot satellites in LEO and has recently qualified its open-license RAFTI interface for use across the space sector
For media inquiries, please contact:
Lúnasa Space
info@lunasaspace.com
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