(Sydney, NSW - 10th of May, 2022) Spiral Blue has announced initial results from in orbit testing of their Space Edge Zero (SEZ) prototype, launched on the 13th of January 2022. The SEZ was launched onboard Polish satellite manufacturer SatRev’s SW1FT satellite.
These initial results were reported to contain low level telemetry data indicating successful startup and initial operation of the SEZ. This indicates that SEZ was able to survive launch conditions and the harsh space environment for a period of over 3 months while turned off. This test was not possible previously due to the SW1FT satellite being impacted by the geomagnetic storm on the 3rd of February 2022, which caused the premature deorbit of multiple Starlink satellites.
Spiral Blue and SatRev are continuing to work together to restore full functionality to the SW1FT satellite. This will enable deeper testing of the capabilities of SEZ. This mission will ultimately seek to carry out onboard processing of images captured by the SW1FT satellite’s VISION 300 camera.
“This is only the first step in our flight testing program,” said Spiral Blue CEO Taofiq Huq. “Plenty of work remains to prove out our Space Edge Computing technology and bring it to initial operational status, also known as TRL 7. We’re excited to continue working with SatRev and other organisations to achieve this important milestone.”
“We feel accomplished for this initial results alongside Spiral Blue. We overcame the challenges and are now on a good path to achieve our mission.” reports Grzegorz Zwoliński, co-founder and CEO at SatRev.
Spiral Blue will also be launching with satellite operator and manufacturer, Satellogic, as part of their Hosted Payloads Program. The launch, currently scheduled for October 2022, will see an upgraded version of the Space Edge Computer, called Space Edge-1 (SE-1), fly into orbit. SE-1 will also be flying onboard other missions, such as Waratah Seed, Rainbow Python, and MS-1.
Spiral Blue was recently a recipient of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grant, a grant which supports the Australian space industry to build capacity to deliver products and services into domestic and/or international space industry supply chains that could support Moon to Mars activities. This grant is supporting the development of Spiral Blue’s Space Edge Services platform.
The company is also working with other space hardware manufacturers through an Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Commercialisation Grant. This grant is supporting developing of Spiral Blue’s Rainbow Python mission, an integrated hyperspectral imaging and edge computing platform.
About Spiral Blue
Spiral Blue is a Sydney-based SME focused on building the next generation of Earth observation services with artificial intelligence and Space Edge Computing. Spiral Blue technology has applications in defence, city planning, utilities, and other industries. Founded in 2018, the company has recently launched its first Space Edge Zero prototypes to orbit, and is now continuing to gather further in orbit performance data. Spiral Blue is a member of the Wolfpack Space Hub.
Spiral Blue media contact
media@spiralblue.space
About SatRev: SatRev was founded in Poland in 2016 to focus on the emerging space market. With vertically integrated operations, the company specialises in the design, manufacture and operation of satellites. It is building a constellation of satellites for real-time Earth observation, which is expected to include more than 1,000 satellites by 2026. In October 2019, the company formed a consortium with Virgin Orbit and nearly a dozen Polish universities to design and conduct the world's first dedicated commercial satellite mission to Mars.
More information about SatRev:
media@satrev.space