Atle Wøllo was appointed Kongsberg NanoAvionics CEO in 2024, after serving as senior vice president for special programs and Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services division president. Credit: Kongsberg NanoAvionics

NanoAvionics, founded in 2014, was known for producing individual satellites and small constellations until April 2025, when the company won a 122.5-million-euro contract ($142 million) to build the initial 280 satellites for SpinLaunch’s Meridian Space broadband constellation. How did the small satellite manufacturer and mission integrator based in Vilnius, Lithuania, position itself for large orders? Was Kongsberg’s 2022 decision to acquire NanoAvionics an important ingredient? A few days before SmallSat Europe, SpaceNews caught up with Atle Wøllo, Kongsberg NanoAvionics CEO and Kongsberg Space senior vice president, to find out.

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...