ESA gives a Boost! to D-Orbit industrial ramp-up plans

Boost! co-funding support worth around €1.95 million over one year will help D-Orbit enhance manufacturing and testing capability at its home base of Fino Mornasco, near Como, Italy to increase the throughput rate for the hardware and electronics in its flight-proven ION satellite carrier. 

The Boost! award will also support development and qualification of a thruster being developed in-house. 

ION, which first flew in 2020, provides a cost-effective means of deploying multiple satellites in multiple orbits – giving operators of small satellites a better operational result from rideshare launches while cutting the time between launch and the beginning of operations. After being launched to orbit, ION (InOrbit NOW) uses its own propulsion system to place small satellites or CubeSats into precise orbits, independent of the flight path chosen for primary payloads. Founder and chief executive Luca Rossettini says demand for precision delivery services is growing rapidly, as small satellites become increasingly capable. 

ESA Commercial Space Transportation Programme Manager Thilo Kranz adds: “This new contract supports the industrialisation of a recently launched commercial service and demonstrates the flexibility of the Boost! programme to respond to the diverse needs of emerging European space transportation service providers.” 

ESA’s head of Space Transportation Strategy and Institutional Launches, Lucia Linares, adds: “Supporting promising commercial initiatives is an important way for ESA to help ensure that Europe’s commercial launch industry and services remain capable, competitive and resilient.”

This present contract complements a Boost! contract signed in 2021 with D-Orbit’s UK-based subsidiary, which is establishing a satellite assembly, integration and testing facility in the UK to offer responsive end-to-end orbital services.