About Iota Technology
Iota Technology is a UK company based at Harwell Campus specialising in the development of miniature electronics for consumer, medical and space applications. Its flagship space program is a constellation of small satellites (Io-1, Io-2, Io-3...) carrying both fluxgate and atomic magnetometers, each measuring 120 x 10 x 10 cm.
The first satellite, Io-1, launched in March 2026 into low Earth orbit, where it collects magnetic field data for three years to support the World Magnetic Model (WMM) and to validate against ESA's Swarm mission data. The program is backed by the UK Space Agency (International Bilateral Fund), the European Space Agency (ESA BIC), and the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Magquest program), with prototype testing conducted at NASA Goddard.
Iota Technology partners with instrument and component suppliers including AAC Clyde Space, ArcSec, Bartington Instruments, Open Space Systems, RAL Space and Twinleaf on the mission's hardware.
Milestones
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2019 Design phase begins, supported by ESA BIC and Magquest Phases 2 & 3
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2021 Prototype instrument testing at NASA Goddard (Magquest Phase 4)
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2026 Io-1 launched to LEO, delivering magnetic field data for the World Magnetic Model
