Intelsat, Viasat+Inmarsat, ESA and SWISSto12 Announce Major Step on PDRs on the Intelsat 45 and Inmarsat 8 Missions

Intelsat, Viasat+Inmarsat, the European Space Agency (ESA) and SWISSto12 announce major progress on the development of the HummingSat product line with Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs) meetings held on both the Intelsat 45 and Inmarsat 8 missions.  

The HummingSat product line, is named after the tiny, agile, fast-moving yet apparently stationary hummingbird. It features a smaller size and lower costs than traditional geostationary satellites, and is being developed by SWISSto12 with the support of ESA through a Partnership Project to which 9 ESA member states have subscribed, under the framework of ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems, ARTES programme.

As part of its partnership with ESA, SWISSto12 is developing and performing in orbit validation of HummingSat with its two anchor customers: global satellite operators and industry leaders Intelsat and ViaSat+Inmarsat, who ordered respectively the first HummingSat on Intelsat 45 the program and subsequent Inmarsat 8 program.

Leveraging upon these first missions, SWISSto12 plans to capture a significant part of the expanding global market of small and flexible geostationary satellites. Four satellites have already been sold with the first launch of Intelsat 45 expected to support Intelsat’s media and network customers. Subsequent Inmarsat 8 satellites will provide worldwide safety services and emergency communications for ships and aircraft.

At around the size of an industrial washing machine and a mass of ≈ 1000 kg, HummingSat ismuch smaller than conventional geostationary satellites. This makes them more affordable to build, and launch costs are reduced as they can piggyback on so-called ride-share missions. SWISSto12’s unique yet flight proven 3D-printing technology and associated RF products will help boost the payload performance, streamline the manufacturing process and reduce the build time and cost of production.

ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications Laurent Jaffart said, “HummingSat exemplifies a successful ESA Partnership Project and European collaboration in commercial satcoms. Established in record time, the project benefits from a dedicated ESA team working closely with SWISSto12, including one of our most experienced engineers embedded with the industrial team in Switzerland. Following the success of previous ARTES Partnership Projects like Neosat and Novacom, HummingSat is poised to generate exceptional return on investment for European and Canadian states participating in the programme.”

VP Satellite Programs and Space Innovation at Intelsat, Loid Saillard, said: “Congratulations to the SWISSto12 team for working to refine the design of their HummingSat product line that culminated with the successful completion of the PDR. SwissTo12 continues to grow their team with top talent and mature their satellite design in order to meet the Intelsat mission.”

Head of Space Systems at ViaSat (acquired Inmarsat), Mark Dickinson, said: “We're pleased to see the progress made by the high-calibre SWISSto12 team on the HummingSat design at the Inmarsat-8 PDR this summer. There continues to be outstanding collaboration between the SWISSto12, ESA and Viasat+Inmarsat teams. The HummingSat product will deliver on the economics offered by the GEO SmallSat solutions and we look forward to including the Inmarsat-8s in our fleet.” 

CEO and Founder of SWISSto12 Emile de Rijk said: “SWISSto12 and its partner ESA have put tremendous efforts into the design and optimization of HummingSat over the last couple of years. I am delighted of what we have achieved together through the completion of our first PDR with a satellite design that combines both innovation, small size and lower cost while enabling competitive mission capabilities and uncompromised reliability for 15 year missions in GEO.”