Private Russian space firm Dauria Aerospace has sold its two Perseus-M maritime surveillance satellites to US startup Aquila Space, a company spokesperson has confirmed.
Private Russian space firm Dauria Aerospace has sold its two Perseus-M maritime surveillance cubesats to US startup Aquila Space, a company spokesperson has confirmed.
The two spacecraft were built by Canopus Systems US, which, like Aquila, is based at the NASA Ames Research Park in Moffett Field, California.
Aquila is also acquiring licences to use certain technologies developed by Dauria. It will pay Dauria between US$4.35m and US$6m for the satellites and the licences, with the amount varying depending on the licensing terms.
Launched in mid-2014 on a Dnepr rocket, the two satellites track and monitor vessels in open seas and navigable waterways in the US, Canada, Northern Europe and Russia.
Aquila is also in the business of Earth observation. Its Landmapper constellation is set to be launched next year and will provide multi-spectral imaging of Earth for agricultural applications.
In February 2015, Dauria announced that it was to wind down its operations in California and Munich, and focus instead on its Russian business.
Its founder and CEO Mikhail Kokorich said at the time that the move was the result of ongoing geopolitical headwinds. This had meant the capital markets were all but closed to Russian-owned companies and that Dauria could not compete with a slew of well-funded foreign space startups.
In October it received US$70m in venture funding from Chinese investment fund Cybernaut to create a new Hong Kong-based joint venture. Called UrbanObserver, the project will see Dauria create a LEO constellation of 10 Earth observation satellites, capable of producing a daily survey of more than 100 of the major cities in Russia and Asia with a resolution of 0.7 metres.
The shift from the West to China mirrors Russia’s recent geopolitical moves as it turns east to build partnerships with the Asian giant as its economy continues to suffer from sanctions imposed by the US and Europe in the wake of its annexation of Crimea.
