Under this agreement, L3 Harris will place the Kleos product suite on its GSA Earth Observations Solutions schedule and prepare and present mission scenario demonstrations to the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
"The valuable data Kleos provides will allow mission critical geospatial solutions to be offered to the US defence community," said Kleos chief executive Andy Bowyer.
A GSA Schedule Contract is a US government procurement process that allows a product to be sold across the US federal government, including to the Department of Defense.
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During the term of the contract, any federal customer can order any quantity of the good or service. Kleos said L3 Harris, formed from the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation last month, had decades of experience delivering mission critical technologies to the US intelligence community and geospatial intelligence customers.
That was done through forming partnerships with agencies to effectively collect, process, manage, analyse and deliver mission data.
Kleos plans to launch four eight-kilogram CubeSats into low-Earth orbit as the primary payload aboard a Rocket Lab Electron launch from New Zealand next month.
These four satellites will form the Kleos Scouting Mission, the start of an eventual constellation of 20 satellites providing global monitoring of maritime radio frequencies.
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That allows accurate location of vessels in distress, as well as those not broadcasting automatic identification system (AIS) signals. AIS is the maritime version of aircraft transponder identification systems.
Kleos, based in Luxembourg, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in August last year, raising $11 million to fund its operations.
Government agencies can use that information to enhance border and maritime security and safety.
Kleos doesn’t this niche market all to itself. US start-up Hawkeye 360 also tracks radio signals from space. It launched its first three satellites last December and is now marketing its services.
Kleos has also appointed a regional space expert Pierre Duquesne as its sales representative for the South American market.
Duquesne has more than 20 years' experience in different business development, marketing, sales and general management roles in the regional space industry, most recently as managing director for Airbus Intelligence in South America.
According to The Corporacion Andina de Fomento, the development bank of Latin America, the Latin America and the Caribbean maritime and port sector will grow substantially by 2040, with planned investments exceeding €45 billion in the coming decade.
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