Hungary is entering the space race with a new, historic preliminary agreement between Hungarian companies 4iG Space and Defense Zrt. (4iG S&D) and its subsidiary, REMRED Zrt. (REMRED) and the American leading satellite platform manufacturer Apex Technology, Inc. The goal? To develop a European satellite mass production model similar to standardized and cost-effective automobile manufacturing.
This tripartite agreement comes at a time when Europe is playing catch-up in the space race against the United States and China.
“One of the most important goals of the cooperation is to ensure that the Ford-T-like serial production logic already proven in the American space industry – led by Apex – appears on the European satellite market as well. This approach could fundamentally change the rate of development and production of satellites, as well as their cost structure, just as it revolutionized the automotive industry 100 years ago,” said istván Sárhegyi, CEO of the Hungarian 4iG Space and Defense Technologies.
“Building on the experience of Apex Space, we are investigating the development of an industry model that can bring a paradigm shift to Europe’s space industry with the active involvement of Hungarian expertise,” he continued.
The partnership will create a series production satellite manufacturing system, specially designed for cooperative multi-satellite systems. This approach significantly reduces development costs and production time, while ensuring consistent, high-quality, satellites.
The collaboration is based on the American Apex’s experience in large-scale satellite manufacturing, as well as the engineering knowledge and system integration capabilities of 4iG S&D and REMRED, which will lay the foundations for a competitive European satellite industry.
Essentially, a standardized and scalable mass production system, such as that seen in the automotive industry, will be applied to satellite production. Europe, which is lacking satellites in orbit, needs to quickly scale up production, including implementing a 12-18 month delivery cycle, to compete at the global level.
Apex provides U.S.-proven satellite platforms optimized for series production, as well as industry-efficient integration and manufacturing processes that currently enable the production of more than a hundred satellite platforms annually.
REMRED Ltd will strengthen the development and production back-up with engineering knowledge in line with European space industry standards and an integration and testing infrastructure based on the REMTECH center in Martonvásár. At the same time, “4iG S&D supports collaboration with vertical integration covering the entire satellite value chain, professional program management and extensive international market access,” according to a press release.
As part of the cooperation, the parties are also investigating the possibility of a joint satellite mission, which, based on Apex’s proven technologies, can help to gain joint technological experience and lay the foundation for the launch of subsequent multi-satellite programs.
