US aerospace engineering firm SpaceWorks Enterprises has formed a new subsidiary to build smallsats and pursue the rapidly growing satellite-based M2M connectivity market. Blink Astro will develop a LEO constellation of nano satellites to target increasing demand for global data messaging services.
US aerospace engineering firm SpaceWorks Enterprises has formed a new venture to build smallsats and pursue the rapidly growing satellite-based M2M connectivity market.
Called Blink Astro, the subsidiary will initially target increasing demand for global data messaging services through a small LEO constellation of nano satellites.
MarketsandMarkets analysts estimate the M2M satcoms market will have grown nearly 76% to reach US$5.91bn by 2020. Larger and more established satellite players such as the UK’s Inmarsat have been positioning themselves to capitalise on this bourgeoning industry, which is being boosted by the soaring demand for data in an increasingly connected world.
SpaceWorks believes it will find success by leveraging technological advances and the increasingly accommodating launch industry, which have made the commercial space sector more accessible to smaller commercial ventures in recent years.
John Olds, SpaceWorks’ co-founder and CEO who will serve as Blink’s initial chief executive officer, said: “Satellite-based messaging has been available for many years, but the cubesat revolution is a game-changer toward lowering price points for modest throughput M2M devices such as remote dispenser sensors, temperature and humidity monitors, geo-location and tracking devices, machine and/or structural health monitors, and precision agriculture sensors.”
“We are now actively seeking partnerships and collaborators to bring this service to market.”
Blink’s initial advisory team includes investment firm Salim & Solomon Capital’s Phillip Braham, Dave Kelly of advisers Kelly & Company, Daniel Shmalo of boutique law firm 360 Venture Law, and Georgia Institute of Technology professor Glenn Lightsey.
Based in Atlanta, the firm also has a cooperative relationship with the Georgia Center of Innovation for Aerospace, which supports the State of Georgia’s space sector.
SpaceWorks specialises in designing and assessing space concepts for government and commercial customers. It also owns Terminal Velocity Aerospace – which is developing a line of small hypersonic flight products, unmanned orbital re-entry capsules, and heat shield technologies – and nanosat launch services startup Generation Orbit. The latter was one of 13 firms that US space agency NASA agreed to form a collaborative partnership with recently.
