Satellite launch will validate Meridian’s novel broadband architecture, designed to enable governments and commercial organisations to deploy, own and control their own sovereign LEO constellations.
Meridian Space, a space infrastructure company, and Kongsberg NanoAvionics, a satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, announced the successful initial activation of Meridian’s first communications payload in orbit.
Launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on 1 October, Meridian’s First Customer Link (FCL) mission represents the company’s first deployment of its novel reflectarray antenna technology in space, following five years of development, engineering and qualification.
Kongsberg NanoAvionics has established two-way communications with the spacecraft during the first available ground station pass. The company also verified that all satellite subsystems have powered on and are responsive, including Meridian’s proprietary communications payload. The mission, built on Kongsberg NanoAvionics’ MP42 microsatellite bus, continues the company’s 100% first contact success rate across more than 60 launched customer satellites.
FCL is part of a 122.5 million EUR (140 million USD) contract under which Kongsberg NanoAvionics will build 280 satellites. According to Kongsberg NanoAvionics, both teams are making great strides in the development of constellation-optimised satellites to support growing customer interest.
In addition to the Meridian satellite, Kongsberg NanoAvionics supported several other missions on the Transporter-18 launch by supplying communication and complete power systems, including electrical power systems, battery packs and solar panels for an undisclosed constellation customer.
