Scout Space Challenges Space Industry Innovation with Very Low Earth Orbit Situational Awareness Technology

Suborbital unmanned spaceplane ‘Mk-II Aurora’ developed by New Zealand space transportation company Dawn Aerospace. / Dawn Aerospace

Scout Space, a Virginia-based space startup, is making a groundbreaking challenge in the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA). The company is dedicated to developing situational awareness technologies in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), exploring new possibilities in a space domain that has been previously overlooked.

Scout Space specializes in the development of satellite flight software and sensors needed for space situational awareness, and they are now targeting situational awareness in VLEO.

Notably, the company’s latest sensor is set to be mounted on the suborbital unmanned spaceplane, ‘Mk-II Aurora,’ developed by Dawn Aerospace, a New Zealand-based space transportation company.

Illustration explaining the test to be conducted in November. / Scout Space

The Mk-II Aurora is a reusable spaceplane that can take off and land horizontally, and on this mission, it will fly into the stratosphere.

The mission will launch from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre near Christchurch, New Zealand. The spaceplane will take off from there, reach the stratosphere, and collect various data necessary for situational awareness using Scout’s sensor.

Philip Hover-Smoot, CEO of Scout Space, emphasized the importance of this project, stating, "This mission is the first demonstration of situational awareness in very low Earth orbit, an area of great strategic importance from a security perspective."