A new joint venture between Minnesota-based contractor ATK and solutions provider US Space is promising operators a service that could extend the life of their satellites by several years.
Called ViviSat, the venture’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is…
A new joint venture between Minnesota-based contractor ATK and solutions provider US Space is promising operators a service that could extend the life of their satellites by several years.
Called ViviSat, the venture’s Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is designed to securely latch on to a geosynchronous satellite that has run out of fuel and provide it with a back-up propulsion system. This allows a satellite with sufficient electrical power to then manoeuvre into a more profitable orbital slot or be rescued.
There is no fuel exchange or electrical connection between the two spacecrafts, allowing the satellite’s operations to continue uninterrupted.
“This is the opening of a new market for the satellite industry,” ViviSat COO Bryan McGuirk, previously senior VP of SES WorldSkies, told SatelliteFinance.
“A large number of satellites retire every year with full payloads”, he said, adding that an in-orbit bird can suffer from any number of anomalies that an MEV would be able to correct.
According to McGuirk, ViviSat’s business model is unique because it is able to adapt to the needs of its potential customers, who have been helping the JV come up with more than 100 uses for the MEV.
US Space will be responsible for operating ViviSat, handling mission management, marketing, legal, and finance. ATK will be the group’s prime mission contractor, overseeing the manufacture and delivery of MEVs and their associated ground segments.
McGuirk declined to reveal ViviSat’s exact shareholder structure, or the investments that have been injected by its two parents. He did, however, say that the new JV has already held “positive discussions with most of the major players in the industry”, although it has yet to officially sign up its first customer.
In a statement coinciding with the JV’s launch yesterday, Edward Horowitz, chairman of ViviSat and co-founder of US Space, said: “ViviSat’s service model delivers a game-changing advance in financial efficiency, operating flexibility and risk mitigation. ViviSat provides satellite operators around the world solutions designed to improve performance, return and cash flow from existing space assets and activate new markets and new opportunities.”
Tom Wilson, board member of ViviSat and VP and general manager of ATK Spacecraft Systems and Services, said: “Inorbit mission extension and operations protection are a brand new market and ViviSat will enable operators to extend satellite mission duration, drive asset value, and protect their franchises in ways no other provider can offer. ATK is an industry leader in space systems technology, subsystems, and components for satellites of all classes. We have a proven record of performance with a legacy of on-orbit success developed from numerous prior missions -Earth Observing-1, THEMIS, and TacSat-3.”
Craig Weston, former VP and deputy director at Virginiabased IT company SRA International, has been appointed CEO of Vivisat. Mark Piegza, president of TMT advisory firm Convergence Advisors with 18 years of investment banking experience, has been appointed CFO. Dany Harel, formerly chief technical officer of US Space, has joined as CTO of ViviSat.
