Bright Ascension software helps support AAC Clyde Space VIREON satellites

Image courtesy Bright Ascension 

The spacecraft — VIREON 1 and VIREON 2 — launched on SpaceX’s Transporter 16 mission on 30th March and are now progressing through commissioning and early orbit operations.

Bright Ascension’s flight software forms the backbone of the onboard operational architecture, enabling reliable spacecraft command and control, subsystem health monitoring, payload tasking and seamless integration with ground systems — all within a configurable mission framework designed to support constellation growth.

VIREON forms part of AAC Clyde Space’s Data and Services strategy, delivering Earth observation data and analytics that help organisations make informed decisions in areas such as agriculture, forestry and environmental management.

Richard McKay, President of Missions and Products at AAC Clyde Space, commented: “On behalf of everyone here at AAC Clyde Space I wanted to express our huge thanks for the incredible levels of support and speed of response as we approached our shipment window.

"Your team have consistently displayed the highest levels of support during all phases of the VIREON programme but particularly in the weeks leading up to final test and configuration.

"AAC Clyde Space and Bright Ascension have a long-standing strategic partnership across multiple key programmes, and we look forward to many more successes together in the future.”

Peter Mendham, Chief Technical Officer of Bright Ascension, said: “VIREON demonstrates the value of well-structured, reusable flight software in enabling reliable and scalable constellation missions. Our focus is on delivering a robust software foundation onboard the spacecraft, that gives mission teams confidence from launch and early orbit through to routine operations and future fleet growth.”

With heritage of over 60 software deployments in orbit, Bright Ascension continues to support commercial and institutional programmes with scalable, flight-proven spacecraft software, designed to accelerate mission delivery through its innovative and reusable infrastructure.