Horizon Technologies ships AMBER payload to AAC Clyde Space for 2021 launch
Horizon Technologies announced today they have shipped the first AMBER CubeSat payload to AAC Clyde Space in Glasgow, Scotland, where it will undergo testing and then be integrated into their AAC Clyde Space bus in preparation for launch in 2021.
Image courtesy Horizon Technologies
Horizon Technologies CEO, John Beckner, said: “Horizon Technologies is not only on track to launch the first AMBER Maritime Intelligence CubeSat into orbit in mid-2021 but will be launching additional AMBER CubeSats next year.
“We are thrilled with the continued support we are receiving from AAC Clyde Space and the success of our partnership with them. Due to Covid-related delays affecting our launch windows, we have had time to implement major improvements in the expanded dataset we will be providing to our customers, and are very excited in being able to provide solutions to customers’ Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) challenges.”
AMBER is a public/private partnership with the UK Government and Beckner again expressed his thanks to the UK Government for its tremendous support over the past year.
Horizon Technologies uses innovative and proprietary technologies to collect and geolocate RF signals from Earth without the need of self-reporting technologies such as AIS (Automatic Identification System) in detecting and monitoring vessels and without the use of 'clusters' of satellites. AMBER use of single CubeSats rather than 'clusters', results in lower total system costs and these savings are passed on to Horizon Technologies’ customers. In addition to geolocation, the AMBER constellation will provide a very detailed and advanced (demodulated) data set on the signals which are collected. Our worldwide customers (many of them current users of our FlyingFish™ airborne SIGINT system) want far more than just geolocations for RF emitters. Customers want actionable intelligence data on targets of interest in addition to geolocation. For many maritime targets of interest, it is important to meet customer requirements for detailed, granular data such as extracted GPS locations, specific radar ID data and L-Band metadata/content, from emitters, which AMBER provides.
Despite Covid, Horizon Technologies is finishing up its most successful year ever. FlyingFish sales and customers are at an all-time high. Next year, thanks to the Horizon Technologies development team and its partners, AMBER will be in orbit and providing critical MDA data to
our commercial and government customers.
Horizon Technologies provides in airborne satellite phone monitoring systems for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications, equipping governments worldwide by enhancing their Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities. They are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the FlyingFish which is in operation on numerous ISR aircraft worldwide, including NATO and FRONTEX. Horizon Technologies, as part of a Public/Private partnership with the UK Government, is the prime contractor for the UK’s AMBER CubeSat SIGINT programme to provide UK and export customers with enhanced maritime intelligence data.