New NanoAvionics facilities in Vilnius. Photo: NanoAvionics

Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace finalized its acquisition of NanoAvionics and announced R&D investment in the company on Tuesday, including a focus on defense-grade reliability for its satellite buses. 

The Norwegian defense firm said it will invest in the small satellite manufacturing, expanding its Lithuanian facilities in Vilnius and Kaunas, focusing on serial manufacturing of satellite buses and hiring additional employees. Increased R&D will also focus on NanoAvionics’ modular architecture for sophisticated remote sensing applications and cybersecurity for its satellite buses. 

Kongsberg announced the acquisition of NanoAvionics in July, purchasing 77% of the company from AST SpaceMobile in a deal that valued the company at 65 million euros ($67 million). NanoAvionics management retains 23% of the company. The deal closed in September. 

NanoAvionics’ name is now Kongsberg NanoAvionics. 

“The investment by Kongsberg and their expertise together with our research, manufacturing and mission expertise, enables us to seriously scale our growth and expansion plans, and even develop new products,” said Vytenis J. Buzas, CEO of Kongsberg NanoAvionics. “We are now well on course to become the prime supplier for small satellite constellations, globally. To reach our goals, it is vital that we maintain our customer-centric agility, fast-pace innovation, and the cost-efficiency of our satellite systems.”

Kongsberg said the new ownership will expand the company’s supply chain and result in new products.