In-Space Missions Limited announce £9.5m new Dstl contract “Titania”

In-Space Missions Limited have announced that they have been awarded a £9.5 million contract by The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to design, build and operate the space segment of the Titania Mission which will demonstrate 10 gigabits per second optical communications from orbit which in the right conditions is up to 139 times faster than the average UK home broadband.

In-Space as mission prime for the spacecraft will work with partners Tesat-Spacecom GmbH and Bright Ascension Ltd. The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space will support the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) of the Titania satellite as well as participating in the Programme and Technical Assurance Board along with Northrop Grumman. In-Space Missions will operate the satellite with data downlinking into the Dstl’s Optical Ground Station (OGS) named “Puck”

The Titania spacecraft, launching in 2023, will feature multiple payloads demonstrating and characterising high-speed free space optical uplinks and downlinks for UK Defence and Security applications. In-Space Missions Limited are world class experts who design, build and operate bespoke physical and digital customer missions, providing a valuable service to customers keen to get their technology on orbit quickly. Based in Alton, UK, their experienced staff work with a new space approach which enables a significant reduction in traditional timescales to get technology on orbit using their Faraday series of spacecraft. In-Space operate a flexible approach supporting complex, innovative and diverse payloads. The space segment of the Titania mission will utilise the novel In-Space Missions ‘Faraday-Bell’ satellite bus.

The Titiania spacecraft is 80cm x 80 cm x 58 cm(h) weighing approx. 100 kg and will operate in Lower Earth Orbit and is expected to launch mid 2023.