Polad has made a name for itself as a leading nation in 3D printing companies making a mark in the industry, Zortrax and many others promising startups. Recently, polish company SatRevolution revealed plans to launch the nation’s first service for private and commercial nanosatellites called Światowid, powered by 3D printing.

The nanosatellites are aimed to tackle state owned companies and small local businesses alike, the market is extremely big and the opportunity will be at the reach of most researchers, private enterprise and more. The satellite will be a tool aimed at research, capable of precisely calculating its orbiting position, relay magnetic and gravitational information, in order to study the magnetosphere and stratosphere.

“Our goal is to create a solution that will also be available to the greatest number of people. Who among us does not dream of their own nanosatellite?” co-founders Damian Fijałkowski, Grzegorz Zwoliński and Radoslaw Łapczyński said.

3D printing acts as a democratizer here as in many other fields. The old idea of exodus to Silicon Valley to achieve the startup dream: undoubtedly it worked well for companies like RocketLab and Space Systems no longer applies as prototyping can happen right on the desk of developers. Additive manufacturing allows for cheap parts to be designed on the spot to accomodate the requirements of each use case, different satellites could be fitted with different cases and components.

The company couldn’t come from a more different background. The three horsemen behind SatRevolution previously worked in a mobile gaming company, T-Bull S.A.  “Broadly speaking, the subject of these technologies is not only our daily work. It is also our hobby. Many years of experience in business has allowed us to create a separate legal entity whose objective is the development of, among others, solutions in the field of space technology,” said Zwoliński.

SatRevolution is still in its very infancy, founded only June 27th. Nonetheless it was able to obtain a partnership with Wrocław Research Centre EIT+, the largest research and development institute in the country, which will provide facilities and more to get going on the development of the satellites. The company is aiming higher than its first product, planning more products and services for state and private enterprises as well as international space agencies.

The nanosatellite itself will be fitted with a suit of tools and instruments which will make it a very useful asset to have orbiting the Earth. Inside a 3D printed outer shell there will be various electronics which will be designed to handle the different functions it’ll be devised for and an extendable arm will provide a camera view. The whole machine will be powered by solar panels with orientation and activation automation.

The ambitious project is schedule to see the first launch in the third quarter of 2017 after a continuing phase of funding, providing a substantial boost to the aerospace industry. The nanosatellites will be propelled by the P-POD (Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer) system, especially designed for the purpose of launching the small satellites.