Michael Oxfort, CTO of eightyLEO. Photo: eightyLEO

[Via Satellite 03-01-2016] eightyLEO, a European company planning a constellation of broadband communications satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has appointed Michael Oxfort as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

As the former CTO of RapidEye, which is now a part of Planet Labs, Oxfort has more than 15 years of experience in designing, building and operating a commercial satellite constellation. With RapidEye he gained valuable experience with small satellites for commercial services.

Oxfort joins eightyLEO during a period of investor negotiations to secure significant funding. In parallel to these negotiations, eightyLEO is also in advanced talks with well known European-based, international industry groups about signing cooperation agreements and conducting joint feasibility studies that ultimately could lead into strategic partnerships and co-investments.

“We are proud to have Michael on board,” said Matthias Spott, founder and CEO of eightyLEO. “In such an important phase when things come together, it is key to reinforce the commitment to partners, customers and investors by showing of force and execution power.”

eightyLEO is focusing heavily on industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications and Business-to-Business (B2B) markets. The company seeks not only to provide capacity, but to also offer proprietary data connectivity solutions and applications to its clients.