OQ Technology takes another big step forward. After being selected and having tested its technology, nearly thirty times between the end of 2019 and March 2020, the Luxembourg startup announced that it had signed a €2 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of the Macsat project.

With its innovative software algorithms, OQ Technology has succeeded in receiving downlink signals, successfully synchronizing and uplinking NB-waveformsIoT, which fit perfectly with Satellite Machine (MacSat) lenses.

The Luxembourg startup is responsible for developing and monitoring a U6 nanosatellite (the size of a shoebox) to ensure the development and in-orbit testing of satellite-based IoT software and algorithms (the wireless technology proposed for 5G machine communication), while EmTroniX (based in Luxembourg) will be responsible for payload hardware and user hardware. OQ Technology is the prime contractor and is currently in talks with the candidate satellite manufacturers that will be announced shortly.

OQ Technology has also announced a ground station in Luxembourg to manage its spacecraft flight operations from its control centre in Leudelange. The mission is expected to be launched in 2021-2022

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.