SWISSto12, a
Swiss aerospace company developing satellite payloads and platforms for the
space and telecommunications industries, has raised $70 million in a Series C
funding round to expand its manufacturing and integration capacity and meet
growing demand from commercial and government customers.
The raise
follows the award of $84.8 million from European Space Agency (ESA) Member
States to the HummingSat ARTES partnership project, through which the ESA is
supporting the development and in-orbit validation of SWISSto12’s HummingSat
geostationary satellite platform.
Founded in
2011, SWISSto12 develops satellite payloads and communication systems using
patented manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing. Its portfolio
includes HummingSat (GEO), a compact geostationary satellite platform, and
HummingLink (LEO), a range of multi-orbit payload and antenna solutions
deployed across commercial and government space missions.
The company has
secured seven HummingSat contracts with global satellite operators, including
SES and Viasat, while expanding its HummingLink business into low Earth orbit
constellation programmes and missions across Europe and the Asia-Pacific
region. More than 2,000 HummingLink solutions are currently deployed in orbit.
CEO and founder
Emile de Rijk said the growing importance of space infrastructure is creating
new opportunities across commercial and sovereign communications, adding:
Our
products are supporting exciting new customer missions – from direct-to-device
connectivity to media broadcasting, intersatellite data relays or sovereign
communications infrastructure – many of which span multiple orbits.
The company
will use the funding to increase production capacity for both the HummingSat
satellite platform and the HummingLink product portfolio as it scales to
support a growing pipeline of commercial and government programmes.