NanoAvionics doubles satellite production capacity with Vilnius facility

NanoAvionics – a satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator based in Lithuania – has doubled its satellite production capability by opening a manufacturing, assembly, integration, and testing (MAIT) facility in Vilnius.

After a gradual occupancy the site is now fully operational, says the company. Putting all the production, testing and mission operations infrastructure under one roof, it represents an expansion to its existing facilities in Lithuania, the UK and the USA.

Specifically, NanoAvionics will be manufacturing its 6U, 12U, 16U nanosatellite buses and its ESPA-class microsatellite bus range of up to 220kg in weight. It will also be the company’s prime location for developing new products – it plans to meet demand for satellite constellations and larger satellites, from commercial, civil, and governmental organisations.

Pictured above is assembly of a NanoAvionics M6P Nanosatellite Bus.

Built next door to its existing headquarters and covering 1,230 square metres, the MAIT facility, includes mechanical laboratories, thermal vacuum chambers, thermal bake-out chambers to software development and vibration test equipment. Also, the building houses NanoAvionics’s constellation operations centre from which it manages its customers’ satellite operations.

“Our investment decisions to scale up the business, such as this facility is a result of the continued company growth and customer demand over the last years,” said the founder and CEO, Vytenis J. Buzas.

“It is in line with our goal to become the prime supplier for small satellite constellations. Our philosophy is to grow alongside the space market’s maturity and with our customers, and enter new phases in their constellation development by having plans in place that allow us to increase our capacity.”

NanoAvionics expansion

NanoAvionics aims to hire more than 100 people across all of its offices this year, growing its global number of 250 employees.

The company manufactures payload controllers, flight computers, electrical power systems (EPS), reaction wheels, battery packs and other spacecraft components.

For example, back in 2020, we reported that Sen, a UK startup specialising in video streaming, had turned to NanoAvionics for building the first five nano-satellites of its “EarthTV” constellation.

See also: HawkEye 360 opens RF-sensing satellite manufacturing facility