Satellite company set for low-orbit mission in 2028

A Reading company that makes satellites designed to be positioned close to the Earth has said it will launch its first model in two years.

NewOrbit's satellites will be built to operate between 200 and 300km (124 and 186 miles) above Earth, about two-to-three times closer than most satellites.

The company, based in Caversham, said operating at that altitude had been difficult because of atmospheric drag on the satellite and other conditions.

It said its Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) mission, called NEO-1, was scheduled for between July and September 2028.

NewOrbit said two missions had operated below 300km before.

The first was the European project GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), which operated for four-and-a-half years, and the Japanese Super Low Altitude Satellite Tsubame.

Genesia, an optics specialist that built the telescope with which Tsubame captured images from a record low altitude of 167.4km, is NewOrbit's first customer.

Flying closer to Earth means better images can be captured with smaller and cheaper systems. NewOrbit said it hoped its satellites will operate reliably for five years.

CEO and co-founder Anatolii Papulov said the partnership "brings an extraordinary concentration of VLEO experience onto one commercial mission".