CubeSat Services.
You would have to have been living under a rock on a very distant planet not to have become aware of the huge growth in CubeSat activity in the last few years! From 2024 estimates of a $450m market size, CubeSat activity is projected to grow to $1.7 Billion by 2034 (Global Market Insights Inc.)
This is all good news to open up the microgravity economy, but such rapid growth does not come without challenges. It's still a bit "Wild West" out there as far as construction standards go with commensurate "failure" rates. In practical terms this has resulted in prohibitive mission insurance costs, or as in the majority of cases, no means to secure insurance at all. One also has to consider that the currently soft regulation approach will change as Orbital debris regulation & de-orbit requirements come into play later this decade. Today regulatory pressure is increasing. For example, the FCC in the US has proposed requiring satellites deorbit within 5 years after end-of-life rather than the older 25-year guideline. Meanwhile, in Europe, ESA is driving a Green Agenda to reduce the generation and impact of space debris through 'EcoDesign' and improved de-orbiting practices.
Plastron was established to make the space sector safer and therefore it should come as no surprise that we have developed a risk reduction and assembly validation approach uniquely for CubeSat projects, contracted by ESA and the UKSA.
Fundamentally, there are limited engineering standards for cubesats. The myth of 'plug-n-play' technology is reflected in their high failure rates; as the cubesat grows and thus becomes an increasingly important technology domain, reducing technical risks not only will reduce failure rates, but also make cubesats more afforable to insure. In collaboration with the space sector and our insurance sector, Plastron is developing dedicated software to achieve these aims. Keen to find out more and learn how to improve your cubesat mission outcomes and overheads?
If you are investing in a CubeSat project - you might want to talk to us NOW on how with our software, we can help you get insurance for your venture, make your project more likely to succeed and protect your investment.