Smart deployables, built in Auckland
Frond Space Systems designs, builds and tests deployable systems for spacecraft: dragsails, booms and, coming soon, solar arrays. Our hardware is in orbit today.
Keeping space open for business
Low Earth orbit is getting crowded. Regulations now mandate disposal, small debris impacts are becoming more common, and operators need to understand what is happening to their spacecraft.
We provide the tools: low-resource dragsails for accelerated disposal, and inspection booms for mission intelligence. Our systems are designed for late addition to the platform, and built by a team with several decades of combined experience delivering flight systems.
- In orbit: flight-proven hardware, with a track record of delivery
- Non-ITAR: systems designed and built in New Zealand
- One location: design, assembly, test and qualification
- Partnered: with RolaTube Technology for boom materials
Flight engineers who build the hardware
Founded by Dr Ben Taylor and Dr Jason Shore, with deployables, space environment and commercial experience on the team and board.
Ben Taylor
PhD in Space Environment and MPhys in Physics with Satellite Technology. Has delivered missions, payloads and subsystems for flight, including instrumentation, mechanisms and dragsail systems, in roles at the University of Surrey and UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, including the RemoveDEBRIS mission.
Jason Shore
PhD in bistable deployable booms and a first-class master’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Surrey. Former structural analyst at Surrey Satellite Technology, with a track record in structural analysis and deployables for small satellite organisations.
Duncan Ledwith
Business leader who has built innovative companies internationally and grown sales channels for start-ups.
Quentin Compton-Bishop
Co-founder and Chair of RolaTube Technology, Frond’s technology partner for bistable reeled composite booms.
Established partners for flight-ready systems
RolaTubeTechnologyRolaTube Technology
Our technology partner for bistable reeled composite booms, and an established, respected supplier of rollable composites to terrestrial markets.
Visit rolatube.com →National Satellite Test Facility
National-scale environmental test capability, accessed through Te Pūnaha Ātea, the Space Institute at the University of Auckland.
About the NSTF →Design, assembly and qualification in one place
Keeping the whole chain in one location keeps projects and products efficient to deliver.
Talk to the team
Tell us your satellite, orbit and launch date and we will recommend the right system.
Frond Space Systems Limitedc/o Auckland Uniservices Limited, 49 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
NZBN 9429051364182