The project would be a landmark for the UK space sector, as the first cislunar mission launched from Britain using systems and technology designed in the country, by SmallSpark’s growing team of engineers.

Set to be the first of its kind demonstrated in space, the 

aims to provide enhanced mobility and logistics capabilities for the

 – a vehicle under development by SmallSpark that will simplify the transportation of low-mass payloads within the cislunar system, providing communications, power and mobility.

 will be one of the core systems that will enable SmallSpark’s 

to reliably move throughout cislunar space, and with the intention to be refuelled in space each vehicle seeks to serve at least 50 payloads in its lifetime; ending with a deorbit burn and bringing debris down with it.

Joseph Ward, SmallSpark CEO and Director of Propulsion said: 

The Cardiff-based aerospace technology venture, which focuses on developing novel engineering solutions for the aerospace and space industry, has received investment from the UK Space Agency to fuel the six-figure project.

Matt Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said: 

With the project developing rapidly, SmallSpark has launched 

 allowing parties to be one of the first to secure their place on the historic launch scheduled for 2024.

More widely, as interest and confidence in the global commercial space sector grows, the UK Government has shown continued support for the European Space Agency with an investment of over £1.8B – £200M of which has been pledged to the ESA’s exploration program, with a key focus on Lunar operations and logistics.

SmallSpark Space Systems has received financial backing from the UK Space Agency to develop a next-generation dual-firing mode propulsion system, designed to power the company’s Space Logistics Vehicle (S4-SLV), along with upper stages of launch vehicles. 

SmallSpark backed by UK Space Agency to develop new generation of chemical propulsion systems for 2024 Moonshot

SmallSpark will be breathing new life into its old SIBYL demonstrator engine, first used in early 2021; to rapidly test a range of solid motor configurations

SmallSpark Space Systems, a Cardiff based aerospace and space technology venture, has today announced it has secured a development contract with the UK’s Ministry of Defence, via the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), to use its 

 technology to accelerate the time it takes to develop novel solid rocket motor configurations, for a broad range of applications . The proposal, which has seen significant support from the MOD, is one of the first to explore the direct application of AI-based assistive tools to engineers in the defence industry for tackling novel problems without historical datasets” The contract is worth £292,565.75 and will see SmallSpark double the size of its software and technology demonstration teams, along with investing in additional in-house infrastructure and capabilities

SmallSpark is excited to announce formally, that it has been awarded a development contract worth £292,565.75 by the Ministry of Defence, within DASA’s Rapid Innovation Cycle, to adapt its 

 optimisation technologies to tackle instabilities identified within the early stages of solid rocket motor design. The proposal, which has seen significant support from the MOD, is one of the first to explore the direct application of AI-based assistive tools to engineers in the defence industry for tackling novel problems without historical datasets,

mooreAI is a data-agnostic, multi-objective optmisation technology developed by SmallSpark Space Systems, with the ambition to dramatically reduce the time it takes to perform system-wide engineering optimsation. The technology boasts unique capabilities including allowing multiple simultaneous data-streams, advanced geometry manipulation, and the abulity to tackle extremely nosiy, complex problems

, which has only been given limited public access by the team at SmallSpark, was originally developed with Research England backing, in collaboration with The University of Southamptoin, and till now, has publically only been used for aerodynamic design optimisation

The project, which is expected to take between 9-12 months, will see SmallSpark returning to the historic Westcott Venture Park, along with other sites round the UK, to demonstrate the companies ability for agile desgin and demonstration.

SmallSpark’s mission is to simlify in-space logistics; and will be debuting its S4-SLV vehicle in 2023; which aims to be the first lunar mission completely developed and launched from within the UK

SmallSpark secures contract from Ministry of Defence to demonstrate enhanced rocket engine performance using novel optimisation

PR: SmallSpark secures contract from Ministry of Defence

pr-smallspark-secures-contract-from-ministry-of-defence-to-use-its-mooreai-software-to-accelerate-the-design-of-innovative-solid-rocket-motors

PR: SmallSpark Secures Backing From InnovateUK To Mature FLOWCAST, To Enable Faster Multi-Component, High-Variable System-Wide Engineerng Optimisation

PR: SmallSpark Secures Backing From InnovateUK To Mature FLOWCAST

SmallSpark Space Systems, today (28th July) featured at the Westcott Space Expo. The team had the chance to showcase our technologies, and discuss the benefits of the ecosystem being built by SmallSpark, designed to simplfiy participation in the NewSpace economy for Small Businesses.

Over the coming 6 months, SmallSpark will be unveiling a range of new technologies and bringing them to market. This includes the BETA launch of its 

:Cloud platform; along with the unveiling of a new iteration of its S4-HIVE engine, that will be powering its Frost Micro launch vehicle in 2023.

SmallSpark Features At Westcott Expo, Discussing Details On Our Propulsion And Optimisation Technologies

SmallSpark Features At Westcott Expo

smallspark-presents-at-westcott-epo-discussing-details-on-our-propulsion-and-optimisation-technologies

Smallspark CEO today featured on Deepbridge’s Discovery podcast; you can listen to the podcast here : 

Smallspark CEO Joe Ward Discusses SmallSpark Space Systems on the Deepbridge Discovery Podcast

News and case studies from the aerospace industry.

SmallSpark backed by UK Space Agency to develop new generation of chemical propulsion systems for 2024 Moonshot

PR: SmallSpark secures contract from Ministry of Defence

PR: SmallSpark Secures Backing From InnovateUK To Mature FLOWCAST

SmallSpark Features At Westcott Expo

Smallspark CEO Joe Ward Features On Deepbridge Discovery Podcast