Smallsat bus manufacturer · est. 2014

Spacecraft busesfrom 6U to 150 kg.

We build reliable smallsat platforms — three product lines, eighteen in orbit, a manifest through 2028. Configured in 6 weeks, integrated in 6 months, flight-heritage telemetry from every previous mission.

In orbit
18 sat
Platforms
3
Manifest to
2028
01 / Platform family

Three buses, same flight software.

Helix-12, Helix-100 and Helix-150 — each a different mass and power class, all running the same tested flight-software stack. Swap payload, keep the avionics.

Platform · H-12U

Helix-12

A 12U CubeSat bus. Deployable solars, 30 W orbit average, 0.1° pointing. The university-and-demonstrator platform.

Mass · dry
11.4 kg
Payload mass
6.0 kg
Power · OAP
30 W
Pointing
0.1° (3σ)
Design life
3 years
Dispenser
12U std
9 flown · 8 nominalfrom £1.4M
Platform · H-100

Helix-100

A 100 kg-class bus. 280 W OAP, arcsecond pointing, propulsion option. The commercial Earth-obs workhorse.

Mass · dry
78 kg
Payload mass
22 kg
Power · OAP
280 W
Pointing
10 arcsec (3σ)
Design life
5 years
Prop · dV
120 m/s (opt)
7 flown · 7 nominalfrom £4.8M
Platform · H-150

Helix-150

A 150 kg-class bus with high-power OAP, chemical propulsion, and dual-payload accommodation. Constellation-ready.

Mass · dry
118 kg
Payload mass
32 kg
Power · OAP
520 W
Pointing
3 arcsec (3σ)
Design life
7 years
Prop · dV
220 m/s
2 flown · 2 nominalfrom £9.2M
02 / Subsystems

Common subsystem stack.

Same subsystems across all three platforms — scaled up and down, but the same interfaces, same flight software, and the same engineering team keeping them all current.

C&DH-03

Command & data handling

ARM Cortex-R52 · RT Linux
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 14 MISSIONS
GNC-02

Attitude control

4× reaction wheels · 3-axis mag
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 18 MISSIONS
ST-01

Star tracker

2× redundant · 2 arcsec
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 9 MISSIONS
PWR-04

Electrical power

Li-ion battery · PCDU
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 18 MISSIONS
TT&C-02

Telecoms · TT&C

S-band + X-band downlink
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 16 MISSIONS
PROP-01

Propulsion

HPGP monoprop · 120 m/s
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 7 MISSIONS
TCS-03

Thermal control

Passive + active heaters
FLIGHT HERITAGE · 18 MISSIONS
PAYLD-IF

Payload interface

CAN + SpaceWire + gigabit
QUAL Q3 2026
03 / Heritage telemetry

What a bus looks like, three years in.

Live telemetry snapshot from HELIX-3B — in orbit since March 2023. Power budget, thermal, reaction-wheel health on a still-flying platform.

TEL · HELIX-3BT+1134d 04h
Battery SoC94.2%±2%
Battery cycles11,842EOL 74%
Solar power274 WOAP 282
RW-1 speed-2,840 rpmnominal
RW-2 speed+1,120 rpmnominal
RW-3 speed-780 rpmnominal
RW-4 speed+4,620 rpmoff-nominal
Bus +Y temp+22.4 °Cband ±5
Bus −Y temp-4.2 °Cband ±5
Payload temp+8.1 °Cband 5–20
Pointing err2.4 arcsec3σ · spec 10
Mission statusNOMINAL+1134d

Three years in orbit, still working.

“Helix-3B was our first H-100 platform. Three years on, the reaction-wheel desaturation schedule is still within predictions, and we're planning a fourth year of operations. Heritage isn't a brochure — it's a spacecraft still calling home.”
Dr. Ishaan Rao, Chief Engineer · Helix Satellites

RW-4 went off-nominal at T+874d; a rebalancing manoeuvre held point-accuracy within spec while engineering reviewed. We publish flight-anomaly reports to our customer portal within 48 hours.

04 / Mission enquiry

Tell us about the payload.

First conversation is always with an engineer. We'll triage your payload requirements against the three platforms and reply within five working days with a shortlist.

What we need to scope

The more you can tell us, the faster we can converge. Most of this lives in the payload's ICD draft.

  • Payload mass, volume, power draw (OAP + peak)
  • Orbit requirements (altitude, inclination, LTAN)
  • Pointing & stability requirements
  • Data rates & downlink contacts/day
  • Target launch window
  • ITAR / UK export-control posture
  • Budget frame (to help us scope properly)