Silicon Valley start-up Antaris inks MoU with Digital Penang for space-tech supply chain development
05 Apr 2022
Silicon Valley-based space startup has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Penang government-linked company Digital Penang to collaborate on capability and capacity building of the local EE ecosystem for the space technology supply chain.
Antaris provides software-defined satellite platform in software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model.
In a joint statement Tuesday (April 5), the firms said the key objectives are to facilitate satellite operators/mission owners to readily access the Antaris SaaS for designing, building, and managing their satellites; provide Antaris Marketplace listing for Penang-based qualified suppliers to access local and global demand; and broaden the ecosystem through open-source led partnerships and training.
Antaris co-founder and chief product and revenue officer Shankar Sivaprakasam said the firm is addressing the proprietary nature of the satellite industry dominated by a few established players by open-sourcing a next-generation software-defined satellite platform for satellite lifecycle management.
“This approach creates a more level playing field for new entrants to the space sector in the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Digital Penang chief executive officer Tony Yeoh said Penang is also known as the ‘Silicon Valley of the East’, and has so far been deeply focused on medical-tech and EE supply chain.
“This partnership opportunity leverages our engineering prowess to extend into the next fastest-growing adjacent sector in the space technology supply chain,” he said.
Antaris is launching a 6U CubeSat demonstrator satellite with multiple customer demonstrator payloads in the third quarter of 2022 on an Indian Space Research Organisation launch vehicle to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
The launch would space qualify (high TRL) Antaris software-defined satellite platform and the payloads.
Source: The Edge Markets
