Airbus has signed a commercial partnership (PPP) agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build, launch and operate the Bartolomeo platform.
Expected to be launched next year, Bartolomeo is a commercial external payload hosting facility to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS).
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Once launched, the platform will be made available to users across the world involving in the fields of Earth observation, technology demonstrators, astrophysics, heliophysics, material science, new space flight applications and commercial missions.
As part of the latest PPP, Airbus will invest nearly €40m to develop, build and launch Bartolomeo, while ESA will facilitate the platform’s installation on the ISS’ European Columbus module.
Airbus will be in charge of the platform operations and payload integration, and Bartolomeo will launched in the unpressurised compartment of an ISS supply vehicle.
It will be installed using the ISS robotics system and an extra-vehicular activity.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataAirbus on-orbit services and exploration head Oliver Juckenhöfel said: “Our role is to make access to low-Earth orbit as easy as it possibly can be and open up the ISS to a global user community.
“We are creating a cost and time-efficient way for institutional and private organisations to bring their experiments into space as external payloads.We can get them launched just 18 months after signing a contract.”
Airbus’ Bartolomeo platform will be designed to offer 12 payload slots, including the payloads in the 100kg class.
In a separate development, Airbus announced that it is on track to test an automated package delivery system in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
The system will use unmanned drones to deliver package and is expected to be trialled in the first half of this year within the campus of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
