Swissto12 expanding small GEO satellite production facilities

WASHINGTON — Swissto12 is expanding production facilities in Switzerland this year as it races to get more business in a growing small geostationary satellite market.

The 3D printing specialist announced plans March 19 to add 1,200 square meters of production space to an existing 4,500 square meter site at its headquarters in Renens, Switzerland.

The expansion involves taking over more floors at the building and includes a large clean room to support the production of its dishwasher-sized HummingSat spacecraft and radio frequency subsystem products.

Last year, Swissto12 added 2,000 square meters of production space to the factory to ramp up its capabilities.

The company currently has four connectivity satellites under construction: One for Intelsat and three for Viasat. 

Emile de Rijk, Swissto12’s CEO, said all four satellites are on track to meet scheduled launches to geostationary orbit (GEO) in 2026. Intelsat has booked a ride on Arianespace’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket for its IS-45 satellite in the first half of 2026. A launch provider has not been announced for Viasat’s trio of I-8 satellites.

Swissto12 also announced it has recently added several satellite engineering experts to a team that has grown 25% since the start of the year to 125 employees, spread across facilities in Switzerland, Europe, and the United States.

The extra production capacity would support current satellite and radio frequency subsystem contracts worth more than $200 million in total, de Rijk said, and “prepares the company for upcoming growth.”

Like Astranis, which is developing similar-sized satellites out of California, Swissto12 sees growing demand for more localized services with cheaper, smaller spacecraft that have less capacity than typical geostationary satellites that are the size of a school bus and have more room for transponders and power.

“By 2030, we anticipate there will be well more than 10 HummingSats in geostationary orbit,” de Rijk told SpaceNews, “allowing satellite operators and nations to provide high-performing and competitive connectivity to billions of people worldwide.

Astranis launched its first and currently only small satellite in GEO in April, which suffered an issue with a solar panel component provided by an outside supplier.

Nevertheless, Astranis has continued to sign up customers ahead of launching its next satellites this summer, including its 11th customer announced this week for a launch in 2025.

“We’re going to launch actually more satellites than the rest of the industry combined over the next couple years for GEO,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark said March 19 during the Satellite Conference here.

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