A Polish company, commissioned by Oman, will design and build a satellite that will fly into space – SatRevolution CEO Grzegorz Zwolinski told PAP (Polish Press Agency).
The CEO indicated that the initial agreement between SatRevolution and Oman was signed a few days ago. “Within 30 days, we are to present directional proposals to specialists at Muscat University and then work with them to determine the final direction in which the satellite should fly,” he said.
He added that within a quarter or two there would be an executive agreement signed. When asked about the value of the contract, he said the final amount depended on the destination point the facility is expected to reach.
Asked what Oman needs so many satellites for (the country’s main source of income is oil and gas exports), Zwoliński explained that “it is now a very fast-growing country that wants to invest in cutting-edge space research and technology”.
Moreover, he added, Oman’s new economic strategy envisaged that data acquired from satellites, in the coming years, would become another important source of revenue for Oman, in addition to energy resources.
“Data is such an oil of the modern world,” he pointed out, stressing that information obtained from satellites is a valuable commodity for, among others, representatives of the agricultural, insurance, logistics, or mining and distribution sectors.
“Satellite images allow, among other things, to monitor the condition of sensitive infrastructure and quickly respond to, for example, pipeline leaks, predict agricultural yields and market prices and disasters such as landslides and volcanic eruptions “, he said.
The objects designed and manufactured in Wroclaw, so-called nanosatellites, are built from modules slightly larger than Rubik’s cubes, weighing from 1 to 10 kg.
“The one to fly into deep space must be larger and more protected from space radiation than objects moving in low Earth orbit,” he pointed out.
SatRevolution was founded in Poland in 2016, specializes in the design, manufacture, and operation of satellites and data analytics, and is creating a real-time Earth observation constellation. Its goal is to become the world’s largest operator of Earth observation satellites. The company has a factory in Wrocław.