In Design · First Launch Q2 2028

Orbital Programme

A 32-satellite LEO constellation to be launched from Unst, Shetland. Assured position, navigation, timing, and encrypted backhaul for the United Kingdom, the United States, and trusted allies. The furthest-out programme on our roadmap.

Partner Briefing Roadmap
Why sovereign

The ground and the air need the sky.

Long-range aircraft and encrypted ground comms need a space layer that cannot be severed or degraded by a foreign operator. Dragonfod's Orbital programme is our answer to that problem.

01

Assured PNT

Sovereign position, navigation, and timing. Backup and check against GPS and Galileo. Resilient to jamming and spoofing.

02

Encrypted Backhaul

Cipher OS traffic terminates on-orbit. Every DF-60 sortie will backhaul through the constellation from 2028.

03

Earth Observation

Synthetic aperture radar and electro-optical payloads. Revisit under 45 minutes over the North Atlantic.

Constellation architecture

Four planes. Eight satellites each.

A polar LEO architecture at 540 km. Four orbital planes, inclined at 87.4°, spaced 45° apart in right-ascension. Every point on the UK is in view of at least four satellites at any time.

CONSTELLATION · 4 PLANES × 8 SATS UK 4 in view UNST · SAXAVORD 540 km · LEO COVERAGE FOOTPRINT · 4,000 km 32 SATELLITES · 4 PLANES × 8 · INCLINATION 87.4° · 97 MIN PERIOD PAYLOADS · PNT · CIPHER RELAY · SAR · EO
Architecture · 01–04
Enough redundancy for a sovereign stack.

At 540 km with four planes, we guarantee four-satellite visibility anywhere in allied territory — enough for a PNT solution without GPS, enough for encrypted backhaul without any foreign satellite in the loop.

  1. 0132 spacecraft4 planes × 8 satellites. 220 kg Dragon-class bus.
  2. 02LEO · 540 km · 87.4°Near-polar. Global coverage over a 24-hour cycle.
  3. 03Launch · SaxaVord, UnstUK-sovereign launch from Shetland. First tranche Q2 2028.
  4. 04Payload mixPNT · Cipher relay · SAR · EO. Configurable per tranche.
Programme roadmap

From PDR to full service.

2026 · Q4
Preliminary design review
Bus and payload PDR with UK Space Agency and US SSC observers. Ground segment architecture frozen.
2027 · Q3
Engineering model on-orbit
Rideshare engineering model launched via allied provider. Full bus qualification in vacuum.
2028 · Q2
First production launch
First eight satellites launched from SaxaVord Spaceport, Unst. First sovereign orbital insertion from UK soil.
2029 · Q1
Constellation at 32
Four launch campaigns complete. Full PNT, comms, and observation tasking available to allied operators.
Architecture summary

Orbital · design.

Satellites32 · at full servicefour orbital planes of eight
OrbitLEO · 540 km · 87.4°near-polar · global coverage
BusDragon-class · 220 kgdesigned & built in Wales
PayloadsPNT · Cipher relay · SAR · EOmission-configurable per tranche
Launch SiteSaxaVord Spaceport · UnstUK sovereign launch
First LaunchQ2 2028eight satellites, first tranche
Full ServiceQ1 2029all four planes on-orbit
GovernanceUK MOD / US DoD jointtasking approved by allied operators
CustomerUK & US · trusted allies by requestno other party

Partner on the Orbital Programme.

Programme Office