U-Space builds a microsatellite factory in Toulouse

This is a first: the Toulouse start-up U-Space is building a factory for nano and microsatellites weighing 4 to 100 kg with the objective of manufacturing one per day in 2026! After building its first spacecraft at the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the young company will set up a 1,000 m factory by March 2024.² in the B612 aerospace innovation building, where the Saint-Exupéry technological research institute is housed, in Toulouse.

“No one in the world has yet demonstrated their ability to manufacture microsatellites in series,” underlines Fabien Apper, president of U-Space, who does not specify the amount of the investment. “Our operator customers must reduce the cost of satellites to have a profitable economic model. We therefore offer them highly miniaturized spacecraft at a cost reduced by at least 50% thanks to industrialization. » Currently, a professional microsatellite costs more than a million euros, excluding launch.