Artist rendition of Bartolomeo platform on the International Space Station. Photo: Airbus

A new deal between Mynaric and Airbus U.S. Space & Defense will test Mynaric’s laser communication terminal on the International Space Station. 

Mynaric will be a customer on the Airbus-operated Bartolomeo Platform, a payload hosting facility attached to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus laboratory. Mynaric plans to operate its Condor Mk2 optical communications terminal to demonstrate how the product works in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and demonstrate a range of mission scenarios. 

Under the deal announced Thursday, the Condor terminal is expected to be part of the fall 2022 ISS resupply mission. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Mynaric said positioning on the facility will give the terminal a clear view of Earth and space for a rigorous test regime to build operational heritage in space. 

“By using the Bartolomeo platform to host our solution, we plan to showcase and, in time, offer our customers an extended range of demonstration and experimental mission scenarios,” said Tim Deaver, vice president for Strategic Solutions at Mynaric. “This experience will further help them explore the utility of our products, refine and accelerate various deployment strategies for laser communications technology at large and build our operational heritage in space.” 

More from Via Satellite: Mynaric CCO Tina Ghataore spoke about the company’s mission in a recent in-depth interview.