In mid-November 2023, the Polish company Thorium Space S.A., headquartered in Wroclaw, Poland, was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for a project1 to build a next-generation telecommunications satellite and launch it into space in geostationary orbit (GEO)2.

Thorium Space S.A. has been included in the HummingSAT3 program, a new product line of European small telecommunications satellites launched into geostationary orbit. Joining this project is tantamount to starting work on a national telecommunications satellite with the working name Small GEO. The Polish company will be responsible for defining the requirements of the entire mission, along with the plan for constructing the Small GEO satellite, as well as for the development and construction of a fully digital telecommunications payload in the Ku/Ka4 band. Thorium Space S.A also plans to cooperate with German company OHB with and Airbus-owned Defence & Space unit SSTL (Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd)5.

“(…) we have been selected for an ESA project that begins a new era. This is the beginning of a Polish telecommunications satellite mission to GEO. Our role is to build the payload, the heart of the whole mission, while the other part, the platform, will be provided by our partners from Switzerland. Together we are creating the latest generation microsatellite for geostationary orbit. This is definitely a breakthrough!” reported Thorium Space CEO Pawel Rymaszewski in an interview with Space246. “(…) this is a very big distinction and confirmation of many years of work by all engineers. It is also a moment to show the world that we know what we are doing. Now we are the ones dealing the cards,” he continued7.

The estimated value of the entire project is about €75 million. It is to consist of five phases called phases A, B, C, D, E. In the first two phases – A and B – the satellite’s telecommunications payload will be designed and built by Thorium Space. Its implementation is scheduled for the first two years of the program, and ESA funding for these phases amounted to 8 million euros. Planning for phases C, D, E, on the other hand, still needs to clarify the details of the projects to be undertaken. It is assumed that work on them will take another three years, and ESA funding will amount to 25 million euros8.

It is worth mentioning that the HummingSAT initiative is part of the strategy pursued under the ESA Partnership. It represents a space program aimed at guaranteeing the right environment for the satellite communications industry to bring innovative space solutions to the commercial market. The European Space Agency has already implemented significant partnership projects under the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program. The scope of the program includes different types of satellites – from large geostationary objects to U-class spacecraft (CubeSats)9. These projects are of great importance for the development of the space industry, providing innovative solutions and supporting the competitiveness of the satellite telecommunications industry in Europe and Canada10.

Sources:

Photo: PIRO4D, Satellite Earth Planet Free Photo, online – https://www.needpix.com/photo/1793233/satellite-earth-planet-universe-atmosphere-background-space-travel-night-sky-star [accessed: 21.12.2023].