AAC SpaceQuest

AAC SpaceQuest; Our Centre of Excellence for SDaaS and Mission Capabilities

Founded in 1994 SpaceQuest joined AAC Clyde Space in 2020 and are now known as AAC SpaceQuest. They have been operating for over 27 years and their commercially focused solutions have demonstrated impressive space-based capabilities stretching across a range of applications.

AAC SpaceQuest are a provider of satellite components, microsatellite systems, ground stations, AIS data and M2M connectivity. The company has gained a reputation as a cutting-edge world leader in commercial small satellites and space-data services, especially in the US small satellite market, the world’s largest market for small satellites.

Our partners

They have delivered on-orbit and operated over 20 satellites, since 2004, with diverse payloads for a variety of commercial customers and government agencies. From their first satellite Aprize 1 in 2004 to launching two CubeSats as part of the SSOA mission aboard Space-X’s Falcon-9 in 2018.

AAC SpaceQuest’s operates its own satellite constellation and ground station network to deliver a highly successful satellite data service. Through their global reach, this offering is now being offered to a global audience in need of mission critical data from space, allowing AAC Clyde Space to rapidly grow our SDaaS business line.

Based in the USA (Fairfax, Virginia), AAC SpaceQuest has an extensive client base, including the Canadian Space Agency, NASA, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, commercial organisations such as LeoStella, ORBCOMM, Iceye, Northrop Grumman to a variety of well-known universities.

Harnessing the power of data

Through AAC SpaceQuest we already own and operate our own satellite constellation and ground station network, collecting global Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Radio Frequency (RF) information, to deliver a highly successful satellite data service.

AAC Spacequest maintain the world’s longest continuous global, satellite-based AIS data archive, providing access through secure, cloud-based data portals and offering advanced AIS data analytics capabilities to our clients. AAC SpaceQuest has been flying AIS payloads and collecting AIS data from space since 2009.

Together we offer a variety of S-AIS data products including global and regional data feeds, processed streams and value-added AIS services, both directly and through  re-sellers.

Bringing together our ground stations capabilities, our network now spans Sweden, Svalbard, the UK and the USA (Alaska, Hawaii and Virginia) to provide a complete operations and commissioning service, from frequency filing to daily TT&C, ensuring reliable access to your data – all delivered via a secure online portal.

AAC Spacequest Space Data as a Service in Operation

APRIZESAT-8 AND 10

APRIZESAT-8 AND 10

AprizeSats 8 and 10 are used exclusively for the collection of AIS messages throughout the world. Both 12kg microsatellites are in polar sun-synchronous orbits since 2013 and 2014. Each satellite receive over 1 million messages a day, of which more than 70,000 represent unique vessels.

THEA

THEA

The primary satellite mission of THEA is to test an experimental spectrum survey payload developed by Aurora Insight, a US company. The secondary satellite mission of THEA is to test a new “Backdoor” receiver developed by AAC SpaceQuest to send executive commands, to reboot the satellite flight computer, or to cycle the spacecraft power bus in the event of a system failure. The outcome of this testing will result in a significant advancement in satellite radio equipment technology.

BRIO

BRIO

The primary satellite mission of BRIO is to investigate, identify and resolve potential technical and implementation issues with its advanced satellite SDR radio design developed by Myriota. Another important objective is to demonstrate the ability to upload and run new firmware that can introduce new features to the SDR Radio after it is on orbit. The results of this three-phase experiment will (1) demonstrate and validate the ability to uplink large numbers of messages to a satellite using a single channel, (2) demonstrate the ability to downlink messages to different ground devices on a single channel, and (3) implement an advanced signal processing algorithm on board a satellite to provide highly spectrally efficient bidirectional communications.

APRIZESAT-8 AND 10

AprizeSats 8 and 10 are used exclusively for the collection of AIS messages throughout the world. Both 12kg microsatellites are in polar sun-synchronous orbits since 2013 and 2014. Each satellite receive over 1 million messages a day, of which more than 70,000 represent unique vessels.

THEA

The primary satellite mission of THEA is to test an experimental spectrum survey payload developed by Aurora Insight, a US company. The secondary satellite mission of THEA is to test a new “Backdoor” receiver developed by AAC SpaceQuest to send executive commands, to reboot the satellite flight computer, or to cycle the spacecraft power bus in the event of a system failure. The outcome of this testing will result in a significant advancement in satellite radio equipment technology.

BRIO

The primary satellite mission of BRIO is to investigate, identify and resolve potential technical and implementation issues with its advanced satellite SDR radio design developed by Myriota. Another important objective is to demonstrate the ability to upload and run new firmware that can introduce new features to the SDR Radio after it is on orbit. The results of this three-phase experiment will (1) demonstrate and validate the ability to uplink large numbers of messages to a satellite using a single channel, (2) demonstrate the ability to downlink messages to different ground devices on a single channel, and (3) implement an advanced signal processing algorithm on board a satellite to provide highly spectrally efficient bidirectional communications.

AAC Spacequest Space Products & Component

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