June 23 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria-founded space technology scale-up EnduroSat said that its Balkan Constellation of nano satellites has been included by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU in the Copernicus contributing missions, a programme of Earth observation.
The first satellite from the 120-strong constellation is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2024, enhancing access to maritime surveillance, humanitarian and ecological support as well as environmental monitoring, Endurosat said in a press release earlier this week.
The Balkan Constellation will provide the Balkans and the EU with unprecedented visit time, real-time cloud-based monitoring services and AI-powered detection, the company noted. Balkan-01 is a 16U nanosatellite, equipped with a multispectral camera and onboard processing to enable new use cases for imagery analytics.
"We have been investing significant time and efforts to democratize access to space data and the Balkan Constellation is another step toward accomplishing our vision. Helping to build competitive Balkan space activities that contribute to the success of the Copernicus Program is a must for the future of the European space sector," founder and CEO Raycho Raychev said in the press release.
Set up in 2015, EnduroSat designs, builds and operates nano-satellites for a range of commercial, exploration and science missions. Partnering with NASA, ESA and SpaceX, the company has developed technology to promote shared satellite services, with the aim of broadening access to space for commercial and educational clients.
Last month, EnduroSat raised $10 million (9.2 million euro) in a Series A fundraising round led by CEECAT Capital. It plans to channel the fresh funds for new talent hires and to expand its operations into a wider satellite market, including with constellation-as-a-service offerings.
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space programme providing free and open satellite data and information to hundreds of thousands of users every day.
($ = 0.9198 euro)