Skykraft wins $1.76 Moon to Mars Supply Chain grant to Upgrade ADCS capabilities Skykraft,Moon to Mars

Canberra-based space services provider and satellite manufacturer Skykraft has won a $1.76 million grant to fund the upgrade of its proprietary Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) into a high fidelity and accurate pointing system. The upgraded ADCS will be flown on Skykraft spacecraft in 2023 for flight qualification to achieve Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 9.

The advanced ADCS will equip the Skykraft satellite platform with significantly improved pointing accuracy, enabling it to support Earth Observation (EO) opportunities including hyperspectral cameras. It will also boost the capability of Skykraft’s Skyride Program, with the enhanced pointing capability of the satellite platform enabling hyperspectral and other EO payloads to rapidly and affordably gain flight heritage.

Utilising spare capacity in Skyraft satellites to host additional payloads, the Skyride Program supports the broader Australian space sector to achieve demonstrated on orbit performance.

This project is receiving grant funding from the Australian Space Agency through it’s Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement program, supporting Australian businesses to build their capacity, skills and capabilities to participate in domestic and international supply chain opportunities.

The grant will grow the capability of Skykraft’s in-house designed spacecraft platform, currently focused on delivering global, real-time, uninterrupted Air Traffic Management (ATM) services from a constellation of LEO spacecraft. The upgraded ADCS enhances the capabilities of the Skykraft platform to support the more stringent requirements of EO payloads and enabling a commercial platform capable of a mission to the Moon.

Skykraft is preparing to launch a satellite constellation for space-based Air Traffic Management services during 2023 to commence commercial operations in 2024. The first launch of this constellation will be a 300kg satellite, which will not only be the largest Australian manufactured space object ever launched but also bigger than the sum of all Australian space objects launched to date.