Sky and Space (SAS) Global, a satellite company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), has announced that it has completed testing of its ground and space communications systems in preparation for its upcoming launch in May.
The May launch will see the deployment of the company’s ‘3 Diamond’ constellation consisting of its Blue, Green and Red Diamond nanosatellites, which will provide communications for Sat-Space Africa, its first wholesale customer since incorporation in 2015.
The three nanosatellites will be launched on the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) PSLV rocket at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
After a successful testing program which included voice calls, instant messaging and data transfer between the 3 Diamonds, the nanosatellites are now making their way to India for the launch. They will then be launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and will have a mission duration of four years.
Said CEO Meir Moalem, “Having a few days before shipping the satellites for integration with the launch pod, we keep on testing our system in advanced operational scenarios, using an end-to-end testing method. We will keep optimising the software and hardware to ensure performance in space of our 3 Diamonds.”
Manufactured by Swedish firm GOMSpace, the 3 Diamonds will be the first of 200 nanosatellites that Sky and Space Global plans to operate in LEO. SAS has already signed agreements with Virgin Galactic, Flextronics Israel Ltd, Ayecka Communications Systems and SocialEco Ltd for upcoming projects.
