SatRev S.A. is a Polish company established in 2016, that specialises in building small, lightweight, nanosatellites. The company was listed in the NASA's "State of the Art Small Spacecraft Technology" report as one of 12 in the world.[1]
The ŚWIATOWID satellite was launched into orbit on April 17, 2019, at 16:46 local time (20:46 UTC), aboard the unmanned spacecraft Cygnus NG-11, delivering supplies to the International Space Station. Along with it, another Polish satellite, Kraksat, built in cooperation between SatRevolution and AGH, was also launched into orbit. The spacecraft, with the Światowid satellite on board, arrived at the International Space Station on April 19 and docked with the Unity module at 11:31 UTC.[2]
Światowid was released into space from the Japanese module of the International Space Station, Kibō, on July 3, 2019, at 11:50 UTC.[3] After its release, the satellite began transmitting signals, which were received by amateur radio ground stations on the same day. Since the beginning of the mission, the satellite has been capturing and transmitting images of the Earth's surface.[4] One of the first objects photographed by Światowid was the Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of Great Britain, photographed on August 6, 2019[5]
STORK is a planned 3U cubesat constellation that will consist of 14 earth observation satellites equipped with SatRev's Vision-300 imager, capable of a ground resolution of up to 5 m.[6] In June 2021 SatRev placed the first two satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5 Marta, on the Low Earth Orbit using Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket.[7] Two more satellites, STORK-1 and STORK-2, have been launched on 13 January 2022 with a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket as part of the Transporter-3 mission[8] while another one, STORK-3, has been launched on the same day by Virgin Orbit using a LauncherOne rocket.[9] STORK-6 launched on 9 January 2023 with the LauncherOne rocket of Virgin Orbit. The launch was a failure and STORK-6 did not achieve orbit.[10]
SW1FT is a 3U cubesat for Earth imaging purposes[11] that has been launched on 13 January 2022 together with STORK-1 and STORK-2 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.[8]
Despite the announcements made by SatRev, none of the satellites in the STORK series has transmitted any Earth imagery that has been publicly disclosed as of February 2024.
LabSat is a 3U cubesat that serves as a scientific platform for in-orbit experiments developed by polish academic institutions, including the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.[11][12] It was too launched on 13 January 2022 as part of the Transporter-3 mission on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.[8]
In February 2022 the Sultanate of Oman, SatRev, Virgin Orbit and Tuatara together signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration on Oman’s first mission to deep space.[13][14] SatRevolution planned to put the first Omani nanosatellite into orbit by the end of 2022.[15][16] The satellite was expected to be launched from Spaceport Cornwall in the United Kingdom aboard the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket.[17] The satellite, named AMAN-1,[18] was launched on 9 January 2023 from Spaceport Cornwall by Virgin Orbit with their LauncherOne rocket; the launch was a failure and the satellite did not achieve orbit.[10]
Following the failure of the first AMAN-1 mission, SatRev prepared another mission named STORK-7/AMAN-1.[18] This satellite was launched on November 11, 2023, aboard a Falcon-9 rocket as part of the Transporter-9 mission.[19] The satellite was intended to be placed into its target orbit by the space tug operated by Momentus, named Vigoride. However, on December 5, 2023, Momentus announced that the separation of the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite failed, and the satellite was irretrievably lost.[20]
In light of the loss of the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite, announced by Momentus, there is debate surrounding the announcement made by the ETCO SPACE[21][22] following Omani news agency Oman Daily Observer[23] on 21 January 2024 regarding the acquisition of high-quality imagery from the AMAN-1 satellite.
Shortly after the announcement, comments surfaced indicating that one of the images purportedly taken by the STORK-7/AMAN-1 satellite bears a striking resemblance to an image available on the website of the Planet Labs.[24] The similarity extends to dynamic details such as the position of a vessel at sea, its track, wake, and the varying color of the waters near the coast.[25] This situation implies that the image must have been captured simultaneously and from the same perspective as a satellite from the Planet Labs constellation. Moreover, the resolution and angle of both images are remarkably similar.
Virgin Orbit considered launching satellites from SatRev on its planned mission to Mars in 2022 (the mission did not happen).[26][27]