12th May 2021 - 08:00 GMT | by Andrew White in London
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HyperSat platform in the lab. (Photo: HyperSat)
A constellation of six LEO satellites should support the intelligence-gathering requirements of joint forces conducting multi-domain operations around the world.
QinetiQ signed a design phase contract last month with HyperSat to study the development of a mini-constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with a hyperspectral payload.
The agreement supports plans by HyperSat to launch a constellation of six LEO satellites into space over the course of 2023.
In a 21 April statement, QinetiQ described how such a constellation is designed to produce ‘greater information about the material properties on Earth than any current capability in orbit’.