"Hummingbirds" from Switzerland will soon be flying into space
The Vaud-based high-tech company SWISSto12 has reached a milestone in the development of its communication satellites called "HummingSat". They are now ready for launch into space. Swisscanto's Swiss Growth Fund is also paving the way.
The space tech company SWISSto12 has developed a special kind of satellite with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is only about the size of a washing machine, making it around ten times smaller than conventional geostationary satellites. It is unusually manoeuvrable and weighs less than 1,000 kilos. With these parameters, it is considered a dwarf among satellites, which is why it was given the name HummingSat. The name is borrowed from "Hummingbird".
SWISSto12, which is based in Renens (VD), has now prepared the "HummingSat" for the launch pad, marking a significant milestone in the history of the company, which was founded in 2011. It has passed the formal review of the architectural design, known as the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This means that nothing now stands in the way of a flight into space.
Countdown starts in 2026
The first customers are already in place. One of these is Intelsat, an operator of one of the world's largest integrated satellite-based mobile phone networks. Intelsat plans to use the Swiss satellites to provide specialised and efficient services for media and network customers. The space mission is scheduled for 2026. Another customer is Viasat-Inmarsat. The company primarily provides communication via satellites for the maritime and aviation sectors. Its space mission with the Swiss satellites on board is scheduled to take off in 2027.
The industry's smallest satellite orbits at an altitude of 36,000 kilometres in a geostationary orbit. Due to its small size, HummingSat is less powerful than its significantly larger counterparts. However, it is significantly cheaper to produce because, for example, the antennas are manufactured using a patented 3D printing process. What's more, its relatively low weight makes it considerably cheaper to transport into space.
Involved right from the start
Zürcher Kantonalbank's start-up financing programme has been invested in SWISSto12 since the beginning. The Swiss Growth Fund joined in 2019 and has already participated in various growth financing programmes. The Swiss space tech company is now a global leader in the production of geostationary communication satellites.
This is all the more astonishing because the development and construction of satellites is very capital-intensive and is therefore mainly found in the product portfolios of large companies. SWISSto12 achieves this with a highly specialised team of around 150 employees at three locations.
About the Swiss Growth Fund from Swisscanto
The company Swisscanto (CH) Private Equity Switzerland Growth I KmGK, or Swisscanto Growth Fund for short, is invested in 18 promising Swiss and international growth companies. Five of them have already successfully exited.
The growth fund invests in unlisted growth companies. The focus is on companies with innovative technologies and business models in the areas of information and data services, industry and healthcare. It is planned that around 70 to 80 per cent of the investments will be made within Switzerland. This makes the Swisscanto Growth Fund one of the first investment vehicles under the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) to focus primarily on the financing of Swiss growth companies in the expansion phase.
Legal information: This information is intended exclusively for qualified investors in accordance with CISA, is for information and advertising purposes and constitutes neither an offer nor a recommendation to buy, hold or sell financial instruments or to purchase products or services. The subscription period has expired, meaning that this limited partnership for collective investment schemes is not open for subscription.
