Smaller, lighter, cheaper

Space technology company OHB SE is widening its range of products with the addition of a new platform for microsatellites. Accordingly, LuxSpace Sarl, OHB’s Luxembourg-based subsidiary, has entered into a contract with the European Space Agency ESA. LuxSpace will develop an entirely new, cost-effective and versatile microsatellite platform to be known as “Triton-X”. 
Triton-X will be opening up new perspectives for the OHB Group in the “new space market” and generating scope for commercial applications. The microsatellites will have a mass of around  80 kilos and transport a payload of up to 30 kilos to a low orbit around the Earth (altitude of 250-700 kilometers).

“Following the successful completion of the SmallGEO satellite platform in the 3-ton class, I am particularly pleased that ESA has now again selected us as a competent partner for the next stage in the development of microsatellites,” says Marco Fuchs, Chief Executive Officer of OHB SE. “This underscores the diversity and innovativeness of our technology group.”

“This contract marks the decisive and final step on our route towards becoming a provider of highly cost-competitive microsatellites,” says Thomas Görlach, managing director of LuxSpace Sarl. “We are grateful to receive support from both ESA and the Luxembourg government. We are convinced that in this way the OHB Group will be ready at an early stage to meet the future requirements of the new space market.” LuxSpace will not only be developing and building the microsatellites but also designing the necessary production line for future volume production.

“By providing know-how, expertise as well as products and services in the field of space system engineering and application, LuxSpace has been supporting for more than a decade the constant expansion and consolidation of Luxembourg as a European hub for developing highly advanced space technologies”, says Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy. “Through the collaboration with ESA, LuxSpace is further gaining an international reputation for its proven expertise in the field of micro-satellites.”

“In today's rapid evolution of the space market, ESA is continuing to support European industry in the most effective manner, by adapting with the European industry to the working methodologies of ‘New Space’. Within that context, this project is a good example of how ESA can respond to the needs of Industry as they address the emerging opportunities created by micro- and nanosatellites", says ESA's Magali Vaissiere, ESA's Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications.

The Triton-X microsatellite platform is highly cost-competitive, available quickly and versatile. It can be used for commercial applications in the new space market such as satellite communications, Earth observation and the testing of new technologies in space. “With Triton-X, we are able to offer inexpensive volume products that are available swiftly thanks to efficient production and testing methods. With Triton-X it is possible to make use of cost-effective launch capacity. The commercial platform is also ideal for assembling constellations of multiple satellites for joint missions,” says Görlach.

In Phase 1, which is now commencing, the entire system architecture will be defined. At the same time, suitable partners for the core industrial team will be selected in conjunction with ESA. The platform will be developed and prototypes built during Phase 2. The maiden flight of a Triton-X satellite platform is scheduled for Phase 3 from the end of 2019.

Join the Triton-X core industrial team

Industrial partners from across the entire supply chain, whether from ESA Member States or from non-Member States, are invited to contact the ESA and the LuxSpace project managers to discuss how they can participate in the Triton-X product line industrial production team.

• Hubert Moser, Triton-X LuxSpace Project Manager, 
  moser@luxspace.lu, phone +352 661 678 996
• Albert Crausaz, Triton-X ESA Project Manager,
  albert.crausaz@esa.int, phone +33 6 80 72 44 52

About LuxSpace Sarl

LuxSpace was created in November 2004 as a daughter company of OHB SE and is located in the SES Business Center at Betzdorf in Luxembourg. Belonging to the international network of companies within the OHB group, LuxSpace provides know-how, expertise as well as products and services to the European and global institutional and industrial market in the fields of space and defence system engineering and application development.
www.luxspace.lu

About OHB SE

Domiciled in Bremen, Germany, OHB SE (ISIN: DE0005936124, Prime Standard) is Germany’s first listed aerospace and technology company. With 35 years of experience in high technology together with its integrated skills in the areas of space technology and telematics, the Group is ideally positioned as one of the leading independent forces in the European space and high-tech industry.
OHB SE currently employs around 2,300 people all around the world.
www.ohb.de‎