Practica Capital one of the first European VC investors in the space industry with NanoAvionics

With Elon Musk's Space X and the blockbuster hit Interstellar making every entrepreneur wonder why they don't stop what they're doing and go into space, Lithuania's Practica Capital is investing into the growing space industry by putting €200,000 down on NanoAvionics, one of the first space startups in Europe to gather VC investment. 

NanoAvionics was founded as a spinoff of Vilnius University in 2014 with their founders' members of the successful project LituanicaSAT-1, one of the first two European CubeSats launched from the International Space Station. Building off that satellite's success the company is planning to launch a next-generation CubeSat bus, which combines the flight computer, ADCS (Attitude Determination and Control) and communication system on a single PCB. Additionally, the company is developing CubeSat UAV TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking, and Command) solutions, as well as thruster technology, which will be also used to support LithuanicaSAT-2's long-term measurements in the lower thermosphere and ionosphere.

For the thrusters used in LituanicaSAT-2 they write on their website, "The system is designed to provide 0.3N thrust and up to 200 m/s of delta V. It is powerful enough to perform impulsive Hohman orbital transfer, orbit shape corrections or even change of inclination for a 3kg satellite," which sounds cool as hell to a layman, and uses nontoxic micro propellant for those of you who like your satellites organic.

“With Practica Capital financial backing and help, we are able to take another step in arranging our ideas and providing novel small-satellite-technology solutions to the global market,” said Vytenis Buzas, CEO and co-founder of NanoAvionics.

The company has already received their first order from a foreign customer, and with LithuanicaSAT-2 coming up, this won't be the last we hear from NanoAvionics, which is a good thing because I'm lost in Wikipedia trying to learn everything I can about this industry. With small satellites on the rise, Lithuanians should be proud to see this innovation coming out of their country.

Source: ArcticStartup.com

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