Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Space
  • /
  • Spire Global awarded Space Services contract by Lacuna Space

Space

Spire Global awarded Space Services contract by Lacuna Space

Spire Global has been awarded a Space Services contract by Lacuna Space, which will see Spire initially build and launch six satellites carrying Lacuna Space’s payload and antenna, with the opportunity to scale the constellation to dozens of satellites.

Image courtesy Spire

Lacuna Space will operate its payloads and receive encrypted data at its Harwell headquarters.

With six satellites manufactured by Spire at its facility in Glasgow, UK, in addition to Lacuna Space’s 10 earlier satellites, Lacuna Space will be able to scale its IoT network for low-cost, reliable global connections to sensors and mobile equipment. Lacuna focuses on IoT services for agriculture, maritime, logistics, remote infrastructure and environmental monitoring, with applications such as measuring soil moisture for farmers in remote regions to improve crop yield or tracking the movement of assets.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT

These satellites feature Lacuna’s new proprietary, ultra-high density ‘Gentoo’ satellite gateway. The satellite gateways work in conjunction with Lacuna’s ground scheduling network, which enables adaptive, regional, fine-frequency algorithms developed using AI from years of satellite-based spectrum scans.

“Satellites play a critical role in providing IoT connectivity across the globe, particularly to remote, underserved and developing areas of the world. These services are transformational in enabling new applications across a wide variety of industries and solving some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today,” said Frank Frulio, the general manager of Space Services at Spire. “With Spire Space Services, we have streamlined the process to architect, build, launch and operate satellites reliably and at a much lower cost than it would typically require new space companies to build infrastructure in space, allowing revolutionary technologies, like Lacuna’s IoT network, to reach the market faster.”

Rob Spurrett, CEO and co-founder of Lacuna Space, said: “This contract is a very important step in Lacuna’s progression into commercial operations and represents over five years of intensive development work to refine the concept and achieve the scalability and reliability required to provide a global commercial service.”

Craig Brown, investment director at the UK Space Agency, said: “Glasgow produces more satellites than anywhere else in Europe and this contract between Spire Global and Lacuna Space is a fantastic example of how the UK’s strong heritage in space manufacturing is accelerating our progress towards global connectivity and new commercial applications for telecommunications.

Advertisement
Leonardo RT

“This collaboration will unlock opportunities for businesses, using satellites to transfer data and information between millions of sensors on the ground that make up IoT, with the potential to scale up further. I’m looking forward to watching the constellation come to life.”

Spire Space Services offers fast and scalable access to space through a subscription model that eliminates the high upfront cost of building and maintaining infrastructure in space. The Company has designed, built and launched more than 165 satellites, enabling commercial and government organisations to easily deploy and operate a constellation, hosted payload, or a software application in space leveraging Spire’s established space, ground and web infrastructure. Spire handles the end-to-end management, from manufacturing to launch to satellite operations and the customer operates the system through a web API.
 

Advertisement
Cranfield University
Five projects to use satellite data to drive public services

Space

Five projects to use satellite data to drive public services

24 June 2025

Five projects from across the UK will use satellite data to help transform the delivery of public services, thanks to new funding from the UK Space Agency.

CGI to deliver core ground segment for ESA

Space

CGI to deliver core ground segment for ESA's TRUTHS satellite mission

24 June 2025

CGI as been selected as the provider of the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) TRUTHS mission, a pioneering Earth Observation satellite designed to enhance global climate monitoring and enable cross-calibration of EO missions.

Safran and Babcock advance Franco-British defence collaboration at Paris Air Show

Defence Space Events

Safran and Babcock advance Franco-British defence collaboration at Paris Air Show

18 June 2025

Safran Electronics & Defense and Babcock International Group, have announced plans to increase collaboration across multidomain mission systems, aircraft engines, space systems, tactical and strategic communications.

Astroscale awarded £5.15m contract for Orpheus mission

Defence Security Space

Astroscale awarded £5.15m contract for Orpheus mission

16 June 2025

Astroscale Ltd has been awarded a contract worth £5.15 million by the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), via BAE Systems as the Dstl Serapis Framework lead.

Advertisement
DSEI 2025
Value of aerospace, defence, security and space to UK up 64% in 10 years

Aerospace Defence Security Space

Value of aerospace, defence, security and space to UK up 64% in 10 years

16 June 2025

The UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors added £42.2 billion to the UK economy in 2024, according to new data from ADS, equating to a 64% increase over the last decade.

BAE Systems to provide US Space Force missile warning and satellite tracking

Defence Space

BAE Systems to provide US Space Force missile warning and satellite tracking

12 June 2025

BAE Systems has been awarded a $1.2 billion contract by US Space Systems Command to provide the US Space Force with missile tracking satellite capabilities.

Advertisement
ODU RT