Adelaide based nano-satellite company Myriota has named Californian company Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems as the developer of its planned satellites.
Myriota was spun off from the University of South Australia in 2015 and initially used the satellites of its founding shareholder, ExactEarth of Canada, to provide its satellite capacity.
In December 2018 it launched an experimental satellite named Brio and built by US company SpaceQuest. It was launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Myriota said Tyvak had been chosen from more than a dozen potential suppliers “for its agile approach and capabilities, security, and mission assurance,” and represented “another step towards its goal of having a constellation of 50 nanosatellites.” However, it did not say how many Tyvak had been contracted to build.
It said each satellite would run “Myriota’s unique, patented software which provides reliable, direct-to-satellite IoT connectivity for millions of users worldwide.”
Myriota’s CTO and co-founder, Dr David Haley, said: “the satellites we’re launching with Tyvak incorporate leading small satellite technology. The architecture is designed to maximise satellite operational availability, providing an always-on service for our customers from the moment they launch.”
He said the satellites would support communication from anywhere on the planet “using Myriota’s low cost, long battery life, secure service while we continue to build a constellation towards providing real-time connectivity.”
Who is Tyvak?
Tyvak is a subsidiary of Terran Orbital Corporation. Strangely Tyvak provides only a one page website at Tyvak.com with minimal information, but a much more comprehensive one at Tyvak.eu. But no news has been posted on that site since May 2016.
There was a fairly extensive description of the company in a late 2016 publication from Defence South Australia: Small Satellite Economic Trends. It states:
Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems provides nanosat and CubeSat space vehicle products and services that target advanced state-of-the-art capabilities for government and commercial customers to support operationally and scientifically relevant missions.
It has been established in 2011 by Jordi Puig-Suari and Scott MacGillivray in San Luis Obispo, California, with the aim to sell miniature avionics packages for small satellites, and to increase the available volume for payloads. It has a European headquarter in Italy, near Turin.
The firm provides:
– a complete integrated suite of in-house engineering capabilities for nanosatellite missions, from design to launch, including a nanosatellite lab for engineering development and testing, and a mission operations center with roof-mounted antennas to operate satellites.
– Nanosatellite custom platforms, including an “Endeavour Platform” capable of satellites spanning from 3U to 12U CubeSat missions, ultra-compact small pico-satellites solutions, and a radiation protection infrastructure for all missions.
– Consulting and Launch Integration Services, consisting of spacecraft development and analysis, launch services, and ground operations.
– Launch and Satellite Insurance, providing critical coverage for small satellite missions and programs.
– Launch Integration, seeking U.S. and international launch opportunities that best meet customers’ mission requirements and ensure flexible launch manifesting.
