Australian aerospace company Gilmour Space Technologies and US-based Atomos Space have signed a multi-year contract to mutually purchase services for launch and in-space transportation.
Under the memorandum of understanding, which was revealed at the sidelines of the Avalon Airshow today, Atomos will contract Gilmour for launch services on its Eris and upcoming orbital launch vehicles.
The American company’s orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) will also deliver in-space transportation services to customers and aggregation services of multiple customer spacecraft for launch on Gilmour vehicles.
Atomos Space offers in-space transportation and orbit-raising services to satellites and enables the bypass of difficult-to-reach orbits.
Atomos’ OTVs reside in space and rendezvous with client satellites in orbit, enabling the full launch mass and volume to be reserved for the payload, Gilmour said in a media release.
This enables the reduction of costs for customers and allows launch vehicles, such as Eris, to be used for a wider range of missions.
“This new agreement with Atomos is an exciting opportunity for Gilmour,” said Adam Gilmour, CEO of Gilmour Space Technologies. “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 customers.”
“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,” said Vanessa Clark, CEO of Atomos.
