| Company type | Private Space |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2016; 9 years ago (2016) |
| Founders | Grzegorz Zwoliński |
| Headquarters | Wrocław,Poland |
Key people | Grzegorz Zwoliński (CEO) |
| Website | satrev |
SatRev S.A. is a Polishaerospace company established in 2016, that specialises in building small, lightweight, nanosatellites. The company was listed in theNASA's "State of the Art Small Spacecraft Technology" report as one of 12 in the world.[1]
TheŚwiatowid [pl] satellite was launched into orbit on April 17, 2019, at 16:46 local time (20:46 UTC), aboard the unmanned spacecraftCygnus NG-11, delivering supplies to theInternational Space Station. Along with it, another Polish satellite,Kraksat, built in cooperation between SatRevolution andAGH, was also launched into orbit. The spacecraft, with the Światowid satellite on board, arrived at theInternational Space Station on April 19 and docked with the Unity module at 11:31 UTC.[2]
Światowid was released into space from the Japanese module of the International Space Station,Kibō, on July 3, 2019, at 11:50 UTC.[3] After its release, the satellite began transmitting signals, which were received by amateur radio ground stations on the same day. Since the beginning of the mission, the satellite captured and transmitted images of the Earth's surface.[4] One of the first objects photographed by Światowid was theGreater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of Great Britain, photographed on August 6, 2019.[5]
Światowid decayed from orbit on 14 March 2021.[6] Kraksat, which launched together with Światowid, re-entered the atmosphere 17 January 2022.[7]
STORK was a 3Ucubesat constellation that was planned to consist of 14earth observation satellites equipped with SatRev's Vision-300 imager, capable of a ground resolution of up to 5 m.[8] In June 2021 SatRev placed the first two satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5Marta, on theLow Earth Orbit usingVirgin OrbitLauncherOne rocket.[9] Two more satellites, STORK-1 and STORK-2, have been launched on 13 January 2022 with aSpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5 rocket as part of the Transporter-3 mission[10] while another one, STORK-3, has been launched on the same day by Virgin Orbit using a LauncherOne rocket.[11] STORK-6 launched on 9 January 2023 with theLauncherOne rocket ofVirgin Orbit. The launch was a failure and STORK-6 did not achieve orbit.[12] As of August 2024, only 5 STORK satellites (STORK-1 through STORK-5) have been launched into orbit (STORK-6 did not reach orbit) and they have all decayed from orbit; the last to decay was STORK-2 on 4 May 2024.[13]
Despite the announcements made by SatRev, none of the satellites in the STORK series has transmitted any Earth imagery that has been publicly disclosed as of February 2024.
SW1FT was a 3U cubesat for Earth imaging purposes[14] that was launched on 13 January 2022 together with STORK-1 and STORK-2 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.[10] It decayed from orbit on 2 May 2024.[15]
LabSat was a 3U cubesat that served as a scientific platform for in-orbit experiments developed by Polish academic institutions, including theWrocław University of Science and Technology.[14][16] It too was launched on 13 January 2022 as part of the Transporter-3 mission on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.[10] The satellite re-entered the atmosphere on 10 September 2024.[17]
In February 2022 theSultanate of Oman, SatRev, Virgin Orbit and Tuatara together signed aMemorandum of Understanding for collaboration on Oman’s first mission todeep space.[18][19] SatRevolution planned to put the first Omaninanosatellite into orbit by the end of 2022.[20][21] The satellite was expected to be launched fromSpaceport Cornwall in theUnited Kingdom aboard the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket.[22] The satellite, namedAMAN-1,[23] was launched on 9 January 2023 fromSpaceport Cornwall byVirgin Orbit with theirLauncherOne rocket; the launch was a failure and the satellite did not achieve orbit.[12]
Following the failure of the first AMAN-1 mission, SatRev prepared another mission namedSTORK-7/AMAN-1.[23] This satellite was launched on November 11, 2023, aboard a Falcon-9 rocket as part of the Transporter-9 mission.[24] The satellite was integrated byMomentus. However, on December 5, 2023,Momentus announced that the separation of the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite failed, and the satellite was irretrievably lost.[25]
In light of the loss of the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite, announced byMomentus, there is debate surrounding the announcement made by the ETCO SPACE[26][27] following Omani news agencyOman Daily Observer[28] on 21 January 2024 regarding the acquisition of high-quality imagery from the AMAN-1 satellite.
Shortly after the announcement, comments surfaced indicating that one of the images purportedly taken by the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite bears a striking resemblance to an image available on the website of thePlanet Labs.[29] The similarity extends to dynamic details such as the position of a vessel at sea, its track,wake, and the varying color of the waters near the coast.[30] This situation implies that the image must have been captured simultaneously and from the same perspective as a satellite from thePlanet Labs constellation. Moreover, the resolution and angle of both images are remarkably similar.
Virgin Orbit considered launching satellites from SatRev on its planned mission toMars in 2022 (the mission did not happen).[31][32]