Kleos Space has signed a contract with Spaceflight Inc to carry and launch a cluster of Kleos satellites on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch scheduled for mid 2021. This launch will be the second cluster launched by Kleos, following the expected launch of the Kleos Scouting Mission aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation’s PSLV C49 shortly.
Andy Bowyer, CEO of Kleos, said, “Our vision is to deliver a trustworthy, cost effective, reconnaissance data product with revisit rates that will help disrupt illegal activities, protect borders and save lives. The launch of the Polar Vigilance Mission means we take another step on that journey, collecting more data, over new areas opening additional markets whilst also providing a higher value product for our existing customer base.”
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has developed a reusable rocket and launch system to significantly reduce the cost of space flight. Spaceflight, a rideshare launch provider, have been engaged by Kleos for this launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9.
Kleos have named this cluster the ‘Polar Vigilance’ Mission – a cluster of four satellites, launched into a 500km Sun Synchronous Orbit. The Polar Vigilance Mission will enhance the company’s RF geolocation data delivered by the Kleos Scouting Mission by covering areas North and South of the Scouting Mission’s 37 degree inclined orbit (Figure 1) in addition to increasing overall coverage time in the equatorial region.
Kleos’ objective is to own, launch and operate up to 20 clusters of satellites creating a constellation that provides critical coverage for monitoring global events and key locations of interest.
The Kleos business model is to create subscription-based revenues from delivery of essential data to government and commercial entities around the globe. Kleos will be the first company to fly clusters of four satellites to accurately detect and locate the usage of the RF spectrum by legitimate and illegitimate actors. The data is collected and downlinked from the satellites then processed through the Company’s proprietary algorithms. Once ‘packaged’ into data products and transferred to our licenced subscribers ‘as-a-service’, the same data can be sold an unlimited number of times creating annuity-type revenues.
Kleos’s data pricing, and accordingly its revenue, scales with the launch of additional clusters. Indicative per-subscription revenue following the launch of both the Kleos Scouting Mission and the Polar Vigilance Mission is provided below:
“Example annual revenues per subscription based on number of Clusters”
“Figure 1: Scouting Mission (Red) and Polar Vigilance Mission (Yellow) Single Orbit Plots”
“Figure 2: SpaceX Falcon 9”
About Kleos Space S.A. – – www.kleos.space.
Kleos Space S.A. is a space enabled, activity-based intelligence, data as a service company based in Luxembourg with subsidiaries in the UK, US and Australia. Kleos aims to guard borders, protect assets and save lives by delivering global activity-based intelligence and geolocation as a service. The Kleos Constellation, will commence with a four-satellite cluster, growing to a maximum of 20 clusters, progressively increasing the delivery of collected data.
Kleos has secured a significant number of pre-orders and has a pipeline of over 100 active opportunities which provide a solid base to the Company’s outlook following deployment of the Kleos Scouting Mission satellites and increasing opportunities and revenues through to the deployment of the full constellation.
About SpaceX. – www.spacex.com
SpaceX is a privately-funded rocket manufacturer and transport services company. Also known as Space Exploration Technologies, it was founded by Elon Musk. SpaceX has developed a reusable rocket and launch system to significantly reduce the cost of space flight
