Kleos (ASX:KSS) says that passing the milestone ensures that the Polar Vigilance Mission satellites can enter the assembly and verification phase – a stage leading to final integration, testing and delivery of the satellites for launch.

The review was conducted, in the Netherlands by satellite developer ISISPACE.

The KSF1 Polar Vigilance Mission satellites are scheduled for a mid-2021 launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc.

The satellites will be launched into a 500-600km Sun Synchronous Orbit, complementing Kleos’ Scouting Mission 37o orbit, which successfully launched in early November 2020 and are in the commission and test phase.

Kleos’ satellites will detect and geolocate radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity-based intelligence, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities when tracking systems are defeated, imagery unclear or targets out of patrol range.

“We are excited to be progressing our second satellite cluster with ISISPACE – a leader in the small satellite market. Entering the assembly and verification phase of the satellites is a crucial developmental milestone and ensures we are on schedule to launch in mid-2021,” Kleos Space CEO Andy Bowyer said.

“The KSF1 satellite cluster will complement our Scouting Mission satellites, improving the value of our geolocation maritime intelligence data.”

ISISPACE’s CEO Jeroen Rotteveel said: "We are pleased to design and build this second satellite cluster for Kleos, to be completed on a fast-track schedule made possible by building on our extensive nanosatellite expertise and heritage.”

“Despite the challenging timeline given the current global situation, we are keen to enter this next crucial phase of satellite assembly and validation and bringing our design to reality.”