TAMPA, Fla. — Danish startup Quadsat said June 16 it has secured European Space Agency funding to productize the drones it uses to calibrate and test satellite antennas.

At the end of the 10-month 500,000 euro ($525,000) ESA contract, Quadsat CEO Joakim Espeland said the company aims to launch its first drone that customers can operate themselves to test their networks.

Quadsat currently has to send technicians to the customers that want to use its quadcopters as stand-ins for satellites.

The quadcopters are integrated with custom radio frequency payloads that help operators, including megaconstellation startup OneWeb, verify ground segment antennas more efficiently outside laboratory conditions.

In March, Quadsat announced it had also worked alongside ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) to test antennas as large as 15 meters in Sweden. 

“This funding will make it easier to launch a more productised version as currently it is service-led,” Joakim…

More…

Source: spacenews.com