Satellite Network Concept Photo by ReOrbit

Finnish space company ReOrbit has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase of the UKKO Mission for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) InCubed program, the company announced Monday.

For the InCubed activity UKKO – Development and Demonstration of Technologies for Future Earth Observation (EO) Satellites, ReOrbit will perform an in-orbit demonstration (IOD) as an independent standalone flight opportunity, showcasing the capabilities developed in the avionics architecture and the software stack in space, namely an end-to-end EO value chain between EO payloads and the end users, as well as satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground communication.

“The successful PDR completion is a significant UKKO milestone. The review had to be incredibly detailed, so our plans for satellite integration, flight software, test, verification and operations meet key mission performance requirements and result in a safe, secure and efficient satellite design. The UKKO mission represents a crucial step in validating our vision of the future of space applications where the transformation of satellites into truly intelligent, interconnected platforms requires satellite systems to be defined by software, which facilitates a complete network integration – from space to ground,” Sethu Saveda Suvanam, CEO and Founder, ReOrbit, said in a statement.

ReOrbit was recently profiled in Via Satellite as one of the 10 smallsat companies to watch in the industry.