Clyde Space is pleased to announce that our new website and online shop is now live. The site has all sorts of nice features that are new to Clyde Space, and perhaps new for most other space companies, such as signing up for newsletters, blogs, case studies of previous missions, etc.

However, what sets this website apart from other space company websites is that it allows the visitor to buy spacecraft online with a credit card.

There is currently a mini revolution taking place in the space industry; the revolution is called CubeSats and it has set in motion an unstoppable demand for standardised, low-cost spacecraft and spacecraft subsystems on demand.

For an industry that is used to having to wait for 12 weeks for a high reliability resistor to be delivered, CubeSat customers can expect delivery of complete satellite units in 4 weeks or less.

'We started supplying into the CubeSat market in July 2007 with our CubeSat Power System and Battery', says Craig Clark, CEO at Clyde Space.

After 1 year, Clyde Space has supplied about 25 satellite power systems, 40 satellite batteries and 40 satellite solar panels to the CubeSat market. Most of these customers are requesting to pay for the systems with a credit card and are looking for very short delivery times.

Craig continues, 'The demand is such that we have to modify our operating practices to meet customer needs. The natural progression for us was to create an online shop and to keep a stock of products ready for sale; this way we can let the website provide product information, including the price and delivery charge, which in turn helps keep the cost of the unit down'.

The standardisation of mechanical and electrical interfaces for microspacecraft platforms such as CubeSats has meant that vendors are able to produce subsystems in large quantities to help keep the unit costs as low as possible.

'The next step for us is to provide online mission design tools that will assist customers with selection of subsystems to meet their mission requirements', says Craig.

'We're not quite ready for a customer to add a launch slot to their basket, buy with a credit card and have it delivered to orbit, but give us a couple more years and we'll be there...'.