Company profile

Development of the new platform is called Aggregated Marketplace for Ground Station Services, and development under ESA InCubed co-funding has started. Standalone ground stations, together with virtual and physical networks, will be brought together into one unified ecosystem, allowing users to book services, manage contacts and communicate with satellites in one cross-network environment.

A further challenge for satellite operators is access to the terrestrial networks that underpin both mission control and data downlinking. Commercial and institutional operators alike need a low-cost, low-latency ground infrastructure at their fingertips, but currently there is a lack of one-point-of-entry communication solutions that are integrated with multiple ground station networks.

Spaceit, CybExer Technologies  and the Estonian Space Office presented CTF Ground Station Hackathon as part of the series of events happening throughout the Cyber and Space Security Conference (CSSC).

Spaceit raised €1 million in a pre-seed round led by Icebreaker.vc. In addition to Icebreaker.vc, Spaceit’s pre-seed round also saw participation from UG Investments.

“The Spaceit team has a deep understanding of the requirements of modern space operations. They have developed a strong technology that provides an essential service at a fraction of the cost of alternatives as well as providing better radio coverage,” commented Icebreaker.vc’s Riku Seppälä.

Spaceit participated in the Locked Shields 2021, the largest and most complex annual international live-fire cyber defence exercise in the world by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE). Spaceit supported the space domain of the event with it`s satellite operations simulators.

Spaceit was joined by a NATO-awarded Estonian cybersecurity company CybExer Technologies and CGI Estonia, an Estonian branch of the global IT consultancy firm.

The companies developed a satellite operations simulator aimed at advancing cybersecurity and satellite communication systems, as well as their testing and validation in a controlled environment.

The simulator will also improve the cyber defence competence of satellite operators, system administrators and IT security experts.

The agreement is highly significant, as for the first time in history a consortium of Estonian companies started co-operation in the cyber security field, together with the ESA.

Spaceit became a member of the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association. The defence and space industries are closely linked. In cooperation with the ESA, Estonian companies are developing various applications related to cyber security and remote sensing, as well as autonomous robots. Spaceit is honoured to be a part of the association.

Celestial completes the IGLUNA2020 Virtual Field Campaign organised by the Swiss Space Center with 100% success rate. During the project Spaceit’s Mission Control System was used to for the Celestial cis-lunar communication technology demonstration.

The companies are collaborating to integrate CYSEC’s ARCA security platform and Spaceit’s Mission Control System to target customers in Space sector with high security requirements.

In the first stage of the cooperation, Spaceit’s Satellite Operations Simulator is made available at NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia.

Spaceit signs a partner agreement with RBC Signals to extend the number of ground stations available in the Mission Control System. RBC Signals is providing ground infrastructure and related services in a growing network of ground stations all over the globe.

Spaceit and EnduroSat sign a partner agreement to include access to EnduroSat’s ground communication infrastructure in the Mission Control System.

Spaceit and CybeExer Technologies enter into an agreement to provide cyber exercises targeting satellite operations. In the first stage, Spaceit’s Satellite Operations Simulator will be deployed into CybExer’s cyber range.

The state-of-the-art solution will enable cyber exercise participants to simulate attacking and defending a satellite mission, expanding their cybersecurity skills into the space domain. It will empower development, testing and validation of satellite communication systems in controlled environments and allow building cyber defence skills of satellite operators, system administrators and IT security experts.

Spaceit enters Starburst Accelerator Program providing several work streams to prepare startups for fundraising.

Starburst is an innovation catalyst in the aerospace industry – the first and only global aerospace accelerator, connecting startups with corporates, investors and government, while providing strategic growth and investment consulting services for all.

Being one of the first companies accepted to European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) Estonia, Spaceit is the first one to graduate from it.

Among other milestones, Spaceit successfully tested its Mission Control System in orbit with Finnish satellite Aalto-1.

Spaceit successfully tests its Mission Control System in orbit with Finnish satellite Aalto-1. Services of Japanese ground station network InfoStellar are used to communicate with the satellite. Daily reception of satellite telemetry is maintained after successful technology validation.

During the incubation period Spaceit’s target is to develop a cloud-based Mission Control System for satellites. Software as a Service platform would use a worldwide network of ground stations to provide command and control capabilities to satellite operators.

Spaceit receives a grant from Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 1.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

On the 1st of July 2015, Spaceit OÜ (Ltd.) is established by Silver Lodi, Lauri Kimmel and Mihkel Jalakas – three space enthusiasts and longtime friends from elementary school.

Lauri was a development lead of the mission control software for ESTCube-1 – Estonia’s first satellite mission. Silver track record included banking and finance. Mihkel had gained extensive skills and experiences in software development over many years.

Spaceit’s story begins when the University of Tartu decided to start developing ESTCube-1, the first Estonian satellite mission. Spaceit’s CTO and co-founder Lauri Kimmel was the lead developer of the mission control software of ESTCube-1.

ESTCube-1 was launched on 7 May 2013 aboard Vega VV02 carrier rocket and successfully deployed into orbit. It was the first satellite in the world to attempt to use an electric solar wind sail (E-sail). The CubeSat standard for nanosatellites was followed during the engineering of ESTCube-1, resulting in a 10×10×11.35 cm cube, with a volume of 1 liter and a mass of 1.048 kg.

The mission ended officially in 17 February 2015 and it was said that during this time it resulted in 29 bachelor’s and 19 master’s dissertations, 5 doctoral theses and 4 start-ups. The deployment of the E-sail tether was unsuccessful, and thus no measurements were taken of the E-sail or of the plasma braking deployment system. Last signal from ESTCube-1 was received in 19 May 2015.