ISR for Maritime Security

Kleos Space (Booth 1527) has large ambitions for a squad of small satellites. The Luxembourg-based firm plans to launch a fleet of nanosatellites to scan for radio frequency (RF) signals from ships and other seaborne platforms—data it can then analyze and sell as a service to defense, law enforcement, and commercial customers.

“Kleos is targeting the global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) market, focusing on the maritime security industry,” CEO Andy Bowyer wrote via e-mail. “Maritime security applications for Kleos include monitoring of illegal fishing, illegal immigration, sea smuggling and contraband (e.g. drugs smuggling), and environmental monitoring (e.g. illegal oil bunkering).”

The first four Kleos nanosats are scheduled for a mid-2019 launch from Mahia, New Zealand, aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle. Bowyer called the first mission “a technology demonstration” capable of delivering daily reports; the company’s full planned constellation should offer “near-real-time” observation around the globe.

Kleos was founded in 2017, when British space engineering company Magna Parva spun it out as a separate company.

Bowyer said Kleos’ goal at GEOINT 2019 is to “engage end users and routes to market, looking to expand the understanding on what the art of the possible is when the Kleos RF data layer is integrated into the usual GEOINT sources.”

Headline Image: The first four Kleos nanosats are scheduled for a mid-2019 launch. Photo Credit: Kleos Space