TOULOUSE, France – U-Space in Huntsville, Alabama, selected Paris-based Skynopy to provide ground station services for two low Earth orbit satellites supporting space surveillance and positioning technology demonstrations.
The agreement covers the SOAP and PANDORE spacecraft, both launched in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX rideshare mission. SOAP focuses on orbital debris monitoring, while PANDORE carries a Safran Space payload designed to support positioning and timing services in degraded GNSS environments.
Skynopy will provide communications support for both missions through its ground station infrastructure. U-Space cited operational reliability, real-time operational transparency, and integration flexibility among the factors behind the selection.
The platform delivers live link-performance data during satellite passes, including signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, demodulation quality, and transmission latency. U-Space said the system allows operators to identify link issues and respond in real time rather than through post-pass analysis.
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X-band modulation and small satellite data throughput
The companies are also collaborating under the European Space Agency’s PUSH program to develop dynamic X-band modulation capabilities for small satellite platforms.
The effort focuses on variable coding and modulation techniques using software-defined radio technology. Adjusting transmission parameters during satellite contact windows can increase data throughput while maintaining link stability under changing signal conditions.
U-Space plans to expand production capacity toward a target of manufacturing one satellite per week by 2027.
"U-Space is exactly the type of customer Skynopy was built for: ambitious, technically demanding operators who need a connectivity service that scales with them. Our collaboration on the ESA PUSH programme takes this further, proving that X-band VCM is accessible to nanosatellites is a major technological step forward for the entire small satellite industry,” said Antonin Hirsch, CEO and co-founder of Skynopy.
