Gilmour Space Technologies (Gilmour) and Atomos Space (Atomos) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore a multi-year contract for Gilmour and Atomos to mutually purchase services for launch and in-space transportation.
What are the terms of the MOU?
This will see Atomos contract Gilmour for launch services on its Eris and upcoming orbital launch vehicles. Atomos’ Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTVs) will offer in-space transportation services to customers and launch aggregation services of multiple customer spacecraft for launch on Gilmour vehicles. While the barrier to entry for satellites to get to space is decreasing significantly, some applications require access into difficult-to-reach orbits.
Atomos Space solves this problem by providing in-space transportation and orbit-raising services to satellites. Atomos has a unique approach where, unlike similar systems under development, their OTVs reside in space and rendezvous with client satellites on-orbit.
This allows the full launch mass and volume to be reserved for the payload, reducing costs to the client and allowing launch vehicles, such as Eris, to be used for a wider range of missions.
What does the MOU mean for Gilmour and Atomos?
Commenting on the partnership with Atomos, Adam Gilmour, CEO of Gilmour Space Technologies, said, “This new agreement with Atomos is an exciting opportunity for Gilmour. We look forward to exploring the possibility of leveraging Atomos’s orbital transfer capabilities to expand our services and the flexibility of access to space to new markets and clients.”
Commenting on the partnership with Gilmour Space, Vanessa Clark, CEO of Atomos, said, “By leveraging the strengths of each of our companies, we anticipate being able to provide unparalleled services to customers in the space launch and transportation industry.”
