SWISSto12 opens Switzerland’s largest GEO satellite production site

Just weeks after securing €73m in financial support from European Space Agency (ESA) member states to accelerate the development and industrialisation of its HummingSat space programme, aerospace and satellite systems manufacturer Swissto12 has opened a purpose-built assembly facility at its headquarters in Renens, Switzerland, to support the industrial-scale production of the geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) craft.

Founded in 2011, Swissto12 has established contractual relationships with leading global satellite operators and works in partnership with the European Space Agency. 

In its core mission, the company said it is enabling a transformational shift in the global satellite communications industry, away from legacy large, purpose-built, expensive and slow-to-deploy services towards smaller, faster, cheaper assets that leverage software-defined, reconfigurable payload architectures and agile, multi-orbit capabilities.

The HummingSat platform is described as a new class of geostationary satellites that are said to be “significantly” smaller and more cost-efficient than conventional GEO craft. HummingSat is seen as offering new economics for the geostationary satellite market, unlocking faster builds, lower costs and ride-share launches. It is also said to offer a telecoms-grade service backbone that plugs directly into the 3GPP non-terrestrial networks standard, designed for mass-market adoption.

Swissto12 also believes its form factor can support cost-effective production and ride-share launch opportunities with its proprietary, space-qualified additive manufacturing technology and advanced radio frequency (RF) systems, further enhancing payload performance, streamlining production, and reducing manufacturing time and cost.

The craft was developed in collaboration with the ESA through its public-private partnership programme. The company’s RF products are said to benefit from unique and patented 3D printing technologies and associated radio frequency product designs that deliver lightweight, compact, high-performing and “competitive” RF functionality. First deliveries are scheduled for 2027.

The new dedicated cleanroom is said to be Switzerland’s first end-to-end manufacturing hub for satellites of this class and is seen by the company as acting as a key impetus to bolster efforts in catering to customers who require quick, reliable deployment.

The additional 1,000m² cleanroom facility complements SWISSto12’s existing 5,500m² development and production facility in Renens, and the move is said to mark a major expansion of the company’s capabilities and establish the first end-to-end, domestic manufacturing hub for satellites of this class.

Commenting on the opening of the new facility, SWISSto12 CEO Emile de Rijk said: “Bringing this integration capability for our advanced satellite payloads and HummingSat in-house is central to our strategy to reduce the time and cost of building our products. This agility brings value to our customers who need cutting-edge products and innovation delivered at speed.” 

The ESA funding is part of the HummingSat Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (Artes) partnership project, and is designed to see Swissto12 scaling up its manufacturing capacity and accelerating new product innovations. These initiatives also aim to address increasing global demand for cost-effective, agile and sovereign communications in both government and commercial sectors.

Additionally, the investment is targeted at allowing Swissto12 to further develop its phased-array antenna technologies to be used onboard low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO) and GEO satellite payloads, and ground products such as user terminals.