WASHINGTON — Satellite manufacturer Apex has won a contract from a Japanese company to provide a spacecraft bus for a technology demonstration mission.
Apex announced March 19 that it secured a contract from NEC to provide an Aries satellite bus for a mission launching in 2027. The spacecraft, operating in low Earth orbit at an altitude of 1,000 kilometers, will test optical communications technology for future satellite constellations.
"By fusing NEC's long-standing expertise in advanced mission payload design with Apex's standardized, innovative platform, we will redefine the speed of development, from planning to launch," Yasushi Yokoyama, general manager of the satellite constellation department at NEC, said in a statement.
