COM DEV Announces Micro-Satellite Capability

June 17, 2008

Cambridge, ON-based COM DEV International Ltd. announced today that it has formally commenced a $7M internally funded program to develop an advanced micro-satellite platform and associated micro-sat mission capability. The company says the initiative represents a strategic expansion beyond its traditional role as an equipment, instrumentation and subsystem supplier, and is designed to take advantage of a trend towards smaller, more responsive satellites.

COM DEV will develop a capability to design and manufacture a class of micro-satellites that can be used to satisfy a range of emerging national and international requirements. The spacecraft platform will support a range of applications including surveillance, security, environmental monitoring, scientific analysis and communications. The design will meet all micro-satellite requirements set out by the Canadian Space Agency, and exceed them in the areas of power generation and data downlink capacity. COM DEV’s strategy is to create a single bus design that can be tailored to the needs of multiple missions.

“Micro-satellites offer cost-effective access to space, enabling a much broader range of applications which support Canada’s national interests as well as the needs of the global community. With a renewed focus in Canada on the strategic significance of the space industry, we believe it is an opportune time to provide several federal departments with novel, space-based solutions,” said John Keating, CEO of COM DEV International Ltd. “From a corporate perspective, micro-satellites represent an attractive growth opportunity that takes advantage of our decades of space engineering expertise, while avoiding the territory of our existing customers who focus on much larger spacecraft.”

Micro-satellites represent an emerging opportunity made possible by the ongoing miniaturization of key spacecraft components, and a performance oriented approach to spacecraft design and testing. At 150 kilograms or less, they are a fraction of the size of traditional geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, and can be built and launched relatively quickly and cost effectively. As a result, micro-satellites can now be employed from low Earth orbit (LEO) to satisfy a range of emerging, niche applications. COM DEV is currently engaged in a number of activities with various customer groups on a global basis to demonstrate the utility that can be achieved through the use of micro-satellite-based technologies.
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