Starlink’s new class of satellites benefits from last year’s acquisition of Elon Musk-owned rocket company SpaceX.
Earlier this week, the rocket-making company revealed several details about the new ‘Argon Hall’ thrusters used in Starlink’s ‘V2 Mini’ satellite. The thruster was developed by Swarm Technologies, a satellite maker the company acquired in 2021. The company manufactures and operates ultra-miniaturized satellites for various ‘IoT’ devices.
The deal, completed in July 2021, is a ‘very rare’ move by SpaceX, reports tech site TechCrunch. This is the only acquisition in SpaceX’s 21-year history so far.
Swarm was a fairly new company at the time of SpaceX’s acquisition. At the time, the startup had just 30 employees, 120 ‘sandwich’-sized satellites and a flagship product launched the year before.
But since talent is valued the most in the aerospace industry, it appears that SpaceX has benefited greatly by acquiring this company.