Space company Astranis has officially unveiled its first geostationary surveillance and reconnaissance satellite called Perceptor.
This is an important step for the company, which previously specialized exclusively in compact geostationary communications satellites (MicroGEO).
Key details about the Perceptor satellite:
Purpose and dual use: The platform is a dual purpose product. It is designed for commercial Earth monitoring, as well as for military missions – in particular, for government intelligence, observation and elimination of "blind spots" in space.
Compact scales: Instead of traditional multi-ton observation devices, the device is built on the proprietary MicroGEO platform. The weight of the satellite is only a few hundred kilograms, which greatly simplifies and makes it cheaper to launch it into a high orbit.
Military interest: The novelty appeared against the background of that, that the US Space Force chose Astranis among 14 companies to participate in the large-scale Andromeda program (RG-XX). The goal of this program is to create a future constellation of new-generation observation satellites precisely in geostationary orbit (GEO).
Project financing: Entering the space exploration market became possible thanks to engagement 450 million dollars of investment in May this year. These funds were directed to the expansion of production capacity for defense orders of the US government.
Astranis' transition from purely telecommunications devices to surveillance systems is intensifying competition among private companies, competing for defense contracts in high orbital regimes.
Source: https://spacenews.com