The Satellite Applications Catapult and Virgin Orbit have announced an agreement to launch the latest satellite in the Catapult's In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme into space from the United Kingdom later this year. The satellite, called Amber-1, is a partnership between the Catapult and Horizon Technologies. Built by AAC Clyde Space in Scotland, it will be launched by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne on its historic flight from Spaceport Cornwall this year – a mission that is expected to mark the first ever orbital launch from a United Kingdom spaceport.

The objective of the mission is to demonstrate for the first time how launch from the United Kingdom can benefit the rapidly growing UK space sector and can enable organizations to rapidly deploy new technologies to orbit, with a complete end-to-end capability coordinated from UK soil. Amber-1 is expected to be the first of 20+ planned Amber satellites to provide Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) data to users. Using unique, patented technology, the system will geolocate and demodulate radio frequency (RF) data from ships around the world.

Horizon Technologies' data will be used by governments to provide information on the tracking and prevention of illegal fishing, smuggling, trafficking, piracy, and terrorism. Information collected through the programme will be provided to the United Kingdom's Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC). The IOD programme is funded by Innovate UK and the UK Space Agency.

The 6U satellite platform for the mission has been built by Glasgow-based AAC Clyde Space, one of the largest CubeSat manufacturers in the world.