Two years after its creation, start-up U-Space, a spin-off from Isae-Supaéro, has signed its first satellite production contract. The company has won a tender launched by Cnes to develop the Ness nanosatellite (Nanosat 3U for civilian spectrum monitoring). It will carry a miniaturized instrument developed by Syrlinks, a company based in Ille-et-Vilaine, which, combined with a broadband antenna, will enable planetary monitoring of the civil L- and S-band radio frequency spectrum, as well as analyzing sources of interference.
For the Toulouse-based start-up, which until now has only signed preliminary study contracts, this is an opportunity to demonstrate its expertise in the design, manufacture and operation of CubeSats, “a standard nanosatellite format weighing between 1 and 50 kg”, explains Fabien Apper, a former student at Isae-Supaéro and one of the co-founders.
Prior to the creation of U-Space, along with Antoine Ressouche, a graduate of Enac, and Nicolas Hulmeau, a graduate of École des Mines de Nantes, the other two co-founders, he worked for five years on the EyeSat project, a university nanosatellite dedicated to observing the Milky Way, produced in collaboration with Cnes and successfully launched into space on December 18. Building on this experience, the three engineers decided to create U-Space in February 2018, the start-up having obtained a license to commercialize EyeSat’s technologies. “This means we now have our first product on the shelf that we can offer to our customers,” confirms Fabien Apper. While working on this student project, “we realized that there was a growing need to be able to carry out space missions more quickly and at lower cost. That is, with development times of one to three years and costs of the order of one to three million euros,” he continues.
TURNKEY MISSIONS
It is in this booming market that U-Space’s offer is positioned. “Our core business is to provide our customers with turnkey space missions based on CubeSats,” explains Fabien Apper. Miniaturized, these satellites are faster and cheaper to manufacture. And because they weigh less, they are also cheaper to launch.
U-Space addresses a wide range of customers, from scientific laboratories and space agencies to the military, which is also very interested in nanosatellites. In the commercial sector, too, a large number of innovative applications are being developed, such as low-speed communications, for which CubeSats are a good alternative. “The advantage of CubeSats is that they can be deployed in large numbers, in what we call constellations. This enables us to address new services,” continues Fabien Apper.
In January, another Toulouse-based start-up, Kinéis, raised €100 million to launch a constellation of 25 CubeSat nanosatellites dedicated to low-speed telecommunications for connected objects (see our February 10 issue).
This leaves the door open to new entrants,” continues Fabien Apper, ”either in the form of historical players offering new services, which could be the case for Airbus or Thales, or new operators who have never used space before, such as major groups like Suez or EDF, or start-ups launching into this field through the use of data or the creation of services.
The ambition of the three co-founders “is really to facilitate access to space. This involves using CubeSats, but not only that, as we sell a complete mission. This means that the customer comes with an idea, such as detecting oil leaks on pipelines. We then have the expertise to understand their needs and translate them into a dedicated space mission that we will design, build and operate. We then provide the customer with the data he’s interested in, thanks to which he can either build a service or do science.”
COMPLEMENTARY MISSIONS
Unlike its competitors, U-Space positions itself as an integrator: “We buy off-the-shelf equipment from partners, then assemble, test and validate it. We work with many players in the French space ecosystem: Comat, Mecano ID, Anywaves, Syrlinks, Steel Electronique and European partners such as Hyperion Technologies”, adds Fabien Apper. In addition to this 18-month contract with Cnes, U-Space is in advanced discussions with other customers for missions based on a 3U (4 kg), the objective being “to sign at least one other mission based on a 3U this year.” At the same time, U-Space is working on a new 6U CubeSats platform (weighing around 10 kg) that will incorporate Comat’s electric propulsion module. “As soon as we integrate this propulsion, we can maneuver the satellite in space, enabling us to address new markets, notably defense, for satellite inspection missions, for example. But there are many other applications that require mastery of this technology. This is our R&D focus for the next three years”, assures the CEO, illustrating the complementary nature of nanosatellites compared with traditional satellites.
The start-up, housed at B612 in the District, the gas pedal of the AerospaceValley competitiveness cluster, is financially supported by Esa Bic Sud France, the incubator of the European Space Agency, and Bpifrance via the French Tech grant. It currently employs nine people and plans to increase its workforce to around 15 by the end of the year. Before considering international expansion, the Toulouse-based start-up is aiming for “contracts with Cnes and Defense to benefit from the support of the French government. This gives us a lot more credibility internationally in a market that is already highly competitive”, he adds.