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= CesiumAstro =

CesiumAstro, Inc. also known as Cesium (see·zee·uhm), is an American privately funded space communications company headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a second office in Broomfield, Colorado. Founded in 2017 by Shey Sabripour, the company is designing and manufacturing high-throughput, software-defined active phased array (APA) communication payloads and satellites for space and airborne platforms.

History
CesiumAstro's Founder and CEO Shey Sabripour was previously the CTO at Firefly Aerospace from 2014 to 2016. Prior to Firefly, Shey spent 24 years at Lockheed Martin Space Systems serving as a design engineer, technology innovator, program manager and ultimately, the Director of Spacecraft Design responsible for an organization of 370 engineers, scientists, and business professionals in missions ranging from $100M to $1B.

Cesium released a list of programs it has been working on in May 2021 along with the announcement of their first mission to send satellites into space.

Cesium had 80 employees as of June 2021; with the company announcing its plan to expand both office footprints and double its employee count within the next year.

Phased Array Technology
CesiumAstro produces hardware and software products for commercial and defense applications. The company focuses on software-defined, modular active phased array communication systems, targeting markets across space, air, ground, and sea, including spacecraft for Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”), Medium Earth Orbit (“MEO”), and Geostationary Orbits (“GEO”). Cesium’s systems use commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components versus traditional military spec parts. The systems support communication applications, including aircraft and drone connectivity, as well as radar and signal intelligence.

CM-1
Cesium Mission 1 (or CM-1) will be launched in September 2021 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The mission will consist of two satellites outfitted with the company's phased array system and will provide an on-orbit experimental testbed for future technology demonstrations. With the successful launch of CM1, the company will have a complete commercial phased array communication system as well as an inter-satellite link in Low Earth Orbit.