# T23/0048 - ALIGN Laser CubeSat UKSA NSIP Phase 3

> Contract award record from UK public-sector procurement sources.

## Key facts

- Public buyer: [University of Northumbria at Newcastle](/buyers/university-of-northumbria-at-newcastle/contract-awards)
- Contract winner: EnduroSat Trading LTD
- Award value: £466,433
- Tender value: £466,433
- Award date: 26 May 2024
- Published: 14 June 2024
- Contract start: 27 May 2024
- Contract end: 31 January 2025
- Stage: awarded
- Procurement category: goods
- Notice ID: e9946d86-062b-42d3-b039-cb73a5553e93-759520
- OCID: ocds-b5fd17-f4d6eb33-727b-4442-99ae-02b2a632991a

## Description

The University is completing the build of three 6U CubeSats as part of a technology demonstration mission funded by the UK Space Agency\. This mission will see the launch of two 6U CubeSats into a sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit \(expected 450 km altitude\) in 2026/7\. The third 6U CubeSat is our reference model\. The payload being developed for assembly integration and testing within the 6U CubeSat bus is a 2U laser communications terminal\. The mission goal will be to demonstrate inter-satellite laser optical communications across a range of link lengths up to 1000 km and at least 1 Gbps data transfer rates between the 6U CubeSats\. There will be a requirement for a number of ground-passes for frequent data downlink of the experimental results log files and the mission is anticipated to last for 1 year, including a deorbit final stage\.

## Related contract awards

- [Ellison Building Laboratory Refurbishment](/contracts/ocds-b5fd17-3defef33-cc51-47ff-bc57-c7ac6c4445eb): University of Northumbria at Newcastle
- [Structural Engineering Consultancy Framework](/contracts/ocds-b5fd17-a31d41f6-03a6-488d-bc5d-e56c011f2a79): The University of Northumbria at Newcastle
- [T24/0084 - Environmental SEM](/contracts/ocds-b5fd17-46301e19-eb28-4de8-84d9-9a1b07acb73d): University of Northumbria at Newcastle

## Source

[View the original notice on Contracts Finder](https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e9946d86-062b-42d3-b039-cb73a5553e93-759520)