Rendering of SpinLaunch Meridian satellites being deployed to space in a stack. Photo: SpinLaunch

SpinLaunch, the startup developing a steel vacuum chamber to launch satellites to space, is also pursuing a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband constellation. 

SpinLaunch, based in Long Beach, California, announced plans for a LEO constellation called Meridian Space on Thursday. The constellation is backed by a $12 million investment from Norwegian defense firm Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace. 

Kongsberg NanoAvionics will build 280 satellites for the initial constellation in a contract that NanoAvionics said is valued at 122.5 million euros ($135 million). This is the NanoAvionics’ largest order to date. 

An in-orbit demonstration mission planned for 2026 will host Meridian’s communications payload onboard NanoAvionics’ standard MP42 microsatellite bus.  

The company plans for a future constellation of 1,190 high-throughput satellites, referencing 2021 spectrum fillings. SpinLaunch filed a request in the FCC’s V-band processing round in 2021. 

SpinLaunch claims it can provide “global coverage with only one traditional rocket launch deploying 250 next-generation microsatellites,” indicating it plans to deploy the constellation via traditional launch instead of its own steel vacuum chamber method. The company said it “remains committed” to advancing the kinetic launch system. 

“SpinLaunch was founded on a bold commitment to deliver a more sustainable, cost-effective approach to launching satellite constellations – a vision that logically involved considering our own global network from the outset,” said David Wrenn, CEO of SpinLaunch. “We are now excited to officially bring our low-cost, dynamic communications service to enterprise customers worldwide.”

NanoAvionics and SpinLaunch plan to co-develop a tailored satellite that weighs approximately 70 kilograms each, designed to be lighter than currently operational satcom platforms.

Describing the technology, SpinLaunch said the satellites will feature an “ultra-efficient reflectarray antenna technology [that] lowers satellite mass and size.” 

Sev Sandomirsky, SpinLaunch director of Satellite programs, explained some of the underlying technology in a video about the constellation. 

“The thing that makes our payload unique is that it is both a reflect array and a bent pipe,” Sandomirsky said. “[This] means that it is a low-power, beam steering antenna, as opposed to a direct radiating phased array that uses much more power and is much more complex. 

SpinLaunch also said the constellation will have a “unique orbital architecture featuring a repeating ground track simplifies user terminals and gateways by eliminating the need for expensive 2D scanning antennas.”