
London, 9 March 2023. – Privateer Space, a data and intelligence platform, announced on the 8th of March its partnership with WARPSPACE – a Tsukuba-based spacetech startup developing an optical inter-satellite data relay service – to provide space operators with essential data in a timely manner to safeguard their assets from objects orbiting space.
With an ever growing number of satellites in orbit around the Earth, the importance for space situational awareness (SSA) has grown to better understand where these satellites and other objects are to avoid collisions.
“In our partnership with WARPSPACE, we will work together to ensure critical information appears where it is needed to protect both our space assets and environment,” says Alex Fielding, CEO of Privateer. “With our shared goal to create a sustainable future, we look forward to working across borders to integrate WARPSPACE’s optical communication with Privateer’s data engines.”
Privateer and WARPSPACE will develop desktop demonstrations using a simulator to verify the amount and frequency of data acquisition when using high-speed optical laser communication networks. If beneficial verification results are obtained, parties will proceed to technical verification for placing optical laser communication terminals on observation satellites.
“Our product helps to unlock the potential of satellite data by utilizing the optical network, and thus help meet Privateer’s demand,” says WARPSPACE CSO and WARPSPACE USA CEO, Hirokazu Mori. “We have high expectations for this agreement to solve the bottleneck of telecommunication and enable near real-time connectivity to the data in space.”
The partnership aims to build a solution where users can retrieve actual space situational data in near real-time for urgent cases, utilizing a high-speed optical laser communications network that will enable users to obtain satellite data within 30 minutes, which WARPSPACE plans to start deploying in 2024 and 2025.