Posted: Thu, Jan 13, 2005, 7:31 AM ET (1231 GMT)
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a launch vehicle startup, will buy 10 percent of a British satellite manufacturer, the companies announced Wednesday. SpaceX will purchase a ten-percent stake in Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), one of the leading manufacturers worldwide of small satellites. The University of Surrey, from which SSTL was spun off, will retain majority ownership of the company. The new relationship between SpaceX and SSTL is seen as synergistic: SpaceX is developing the Falcon 1, a small low-cost launch vehicle well-suited to the types of satellites SSTL builds. SSTL has built and launched 23 smallsats and has several more under contract, including the first satellite for the Galileo navigation system and a microsat for Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US.

Related Links:

•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  Univ. of Surrey press release