Millennium Space Systems has started production of the ALTAIR spacecraft, a low-cost platform for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

The company said it is now one year away from launching a software-defined satellite.

Millennium used a Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements (SeeMe) design for the spacecraft, as well as a flexible 27U form factor, which leverages the CubeSat concept to increase mission capability and ensure cost and schedule savings.

ALTAIR is designed for LEO constellations, and said to represent the next phase in space missions, changing how satellites will be designed, developed and tested.

According to the company, ALTAIR will be able to fulfill the requirements of military, civil, and commercial groups, offering them customers several advantages such as affordability, performance and schedule responsiveness.

" ALTAIR is…said to represent the next phase in space missions, changing how satellites will be designed, developed and tested."

In addition, ALTAIR spacecraft can respond to fiscal environment and technical directions, enabling users to add new technologies in a shorter time, before they become outdated.

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Millennium also highlighted that its spacecraft bus line provides a tool to showcase high-risk and cutting-edge technologies on-orbit, for a low price.

The company has also launched an interactive site designed to customise mission concepts based on its ALTAIR small space platform.

The site features easy-to-use mission concept tools for planners, commercial entrepreneurs and principal investigators. It also offers ways to customise space mission parameters such as payloads, CONOPS and communication paths.

In March 2013, the company received a $1.91m contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of the SeeMe programme.

During phase one, the company was required to complete the mission specification, satellite design, and production planning for six prototype and 24 operational small satellites.

SeeMe is being designed to gather timely imagery of specific overseas locations directly from a small satellite, especially for small squads and individual teams, which is not currently possible from military or commercial satellites.