IOD-1

IOD-1 (In-Orbit Demonstrator 1) is Startical’s first satellite, developed and launched as part of the European-funded ECHOES project (co-funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility Transport programme and supported by SESAR Joint Undertaking). It is a cubesat equipped with a 3-meter-long deployable VHF antenna, folded down to just 10 centimeters for launch, together with an ADS-B receiver payload.

IOD-1 lifted off on March 15, 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (USA), aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-13 rideshare mission, integrated by Exolaunch. Less than three months after launch, the satellite successfully demonstrated the world’s first VHF voice and data link from space between an aircraft and an air traffic controller, confirming the feasibility of Startical’s satellite-based communications and surveillance concept fully compatible with existing avionics.