Exotrail signs a contract with the French Space Agency

25th June

Exotrail and CNES have signed a development contract under which we will kick-start the development of our on-orbit transportation vehicle (the Space Van™). Exotrail has been selected as a Grand Winner of the CNES Launchers R&D Challenge. In this first-of-its-kind event, CNES attributed 750k€ worth of contract to 10 companies among 84 contestants.

The Space Van™ is a vehicle equipped with propulsion that can host nanosatellites or microsatellites, and deliver them to their operational final orbit from the launch orbit. This allows very small satellites that can not perform advanced post-launch maneuvring with on-board propulsion to reduce their launch costs, by selecting a larger rocket, without compromising on precise deployment.

Exotrail has been granted with the highest sum at 100k€. The jury was headed by Carine Leveau, deputy director of the Launcher Department of CNES, and composed by several members including the Head of Launchers from CNES, ArianeGroup CTO, and Head of Future Launchers Programs of ESA. Under this contract, Exotrail will perform a detailed technical and commercial analysis of our Space Van™. Exotrail will work closely with CNES and the industry in this analysis to further refine design and requirements.