HummingSat is an European Space Agency Partnership Project to produce smaller, cheaper, more agile GEO satellites faster
SWISSto12 has inaugurated its largest-ever cleanroom, a 1,000m² purpose-built assembly facility for the industrial-scale production of its HummingSat GEO satellites at its headquarters at Renens, Switzerland. The company describes itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing aerospace companies and a leading manufacturer of advanced satellite systems.
SWISSto12 was set up in 2011 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). It was founded by Dr Emile de Rijk (its CEO), who developed the company’s core 3D-printed radio frequency (RF) technology during his PhD studies to create payloads that can be hosted in any platform, for any mission, in any orbit – on a third-party satellite or its own compact, geostationary satellite, HummingSat.
HummingSat is the world’s first commercial SmallSat for geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). GEOs are in synch with the Earth’s rotation, orbiting at 35,786km above the Earth. The HummingSat project is an European Space Agency (ESA which provided the image) Partnership Project within the ARTES programme, the idea being that these more agile, smaller and cheaper satellites expanded connectivity and regional services, providing more affordable access to space.
The additional new 1,000 m² cleanroom facility complements SWISSto12’s 5,500m² development and production facility in Renens, expanding its capabilities and establishing the first end-to-end, domestic manufacturing hub for satellites of this class.
“Bringing this integration capability for our advanced satellite payloads and HummingSat in-house is central to our strategy to reduce the time and cost of building our products,” said de Rijk. “This agility brings value to our customers who need cutting edge products and innovation delivered at speed.”
In January SWISSto12 was awarded €73 million investment by the ESA and ithas secured contracts with top-tier operators, including Intelsat and Inmarsat (now Viasat), with over €350 million in customer orders reported in 2024. The first HummingSat for Intelsat (Intelsat-45) is scheduled for launch on an Ariane 6 rocket in 2027.
The company has a US subsidiary, St12 RF Solutions Inc. in New Hampshire and a command and control centre in Georgia. It provides 3D-printed antenna components to US defence and commercial prime contractors like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
