DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD
Dartcom Systems Ltd designs and supplies turnkey weather satellite and remote sensing ground station hardware and software for government meteorological agencies, polar research organizations, and academic institutions worldwide, with a 16-country distributor network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersYelverton, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD does
Dartcom Systems Ltd is a UK-based private company that designs, manufactures, and integrates weather satellite and remote sensing ground station systems. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Yelverton, Devon, the company sells turnkey reception solutions for polar-orbiting and geostationary meteorological satellites (including Aqua, Suomi NPP, JPSS, FengYun-3, Metop-SG, MTG, MSG, GOES, Himawari, and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A), with land-based and marine variants. Its portfolio spans proprietary hardware (1.5m parabolic antennas with hydrophobic-coated radomes, RF front-ends, and in-house demodulators supporting up to 100Msps) and a software stack comprising Polar Orbiter Ingester, Geostationary Ingester, and the iDAP/MacroPro display and processing application, with export interoperability to GeoTIFF, PCI Geomatica, ERDAS IMAGINE, and ENVI/IDL.
The company operates a channel-led GTM model, distributing through 16 regional partners across Europe, the Middle East, India, North America, East Asia, South America, and Southeast Asia, supplemented by direct sales and a technical support portal. Customers are concentrated in government meteorological agencies (Météo France, Central Weather Bureau Taiwan, VATM Vietnam, LAPAN Indonesia), national space and polar research bodies (INPE Brazil, British Antarctic Survey, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, Australian Antarctic Division), and research/education institutions (University of Valladolid, Kasetsart University). Revenue is generated primarily through hardware sales of complete ground station systems, with ancillary installation, training, and annual software upgrade subscriptions. Dartcom is bootstrapped, founder-led, and operates with 1–10 employees, selling on the basis of domain specialization (over 39 years cited in the field), cost efficiency versus traditional X-Band systems, and broad satellite constellation support.
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD
- Legal name
- Dartcom Systems Ltd
- Website
- https://dartcom.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Dartcom Systems Ltd designs and supplies turnkey weather satellite and remote sensing ground station hardware and software for government meteorological agencies, polar research organizations, and academic institutions worldwide, with a 16-country distributor network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Satellite Ground Station Equipment
- NAICS
- Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)
- SIC
- Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment (3663), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Satellite Broadband Terminals & Gateways (VSAT/LEO CPE) (HDAFAIAM)
Keywords
Where DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Yelverton
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Satellite Ground Station Systems: Sale of complete turnkey satellite ground station systems including hardware (antennas, receivers, LNBs, demodulators) and software. Systems are sold with optional installation and training services. The company also offers software upgrades and technical support agreements.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Dartcom Systems Ltd designs, manufactures, and supplies weather satellite reception ground station systems and associated ingester software. Its products capture, decode, and process real-time meteorological data broadcast by geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites operated by agencies such as NOAA, EUMETSAT, JMA, and KMA. Offerings span RF/antenna hardware subsystems, receiver electronics, and proprietary software for ingesting and processing satellite imagery and data streams.
Product overview
Dartcom Systems Ltd is a manufacturer and integrator of weather satellite and remote sensing ground stations offering a portfolio of specialized hardware systems and software products. The core hardware offerings include the X-Band EOS System for polar-orbiting satellite data reception, the EUMETCast System for EUMETSAT services, the HimawariCast System for Japanese weather satellite data, the GOES HRIT System for US geostationary satellites, and the GK-2A LRIT and UHRIT Systems for Korean satellite data. Supporting software includes the Polar Orbiter Ingester Software for satellite tracking and data reception, the Geostationary Ingester Software for processing geostationary satellite data, and the iDAP/MacroPro Software for image display, processing, and automation. These products work together as an end-to-end solution from satellite signal reception through to data processing, visualization, and export to industry-standard formats like GeoTIFF, PCI Geomatica, ERDAS IMAGINE, and ENVI/IDL.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- X-Band EOS System Ground station system for reception of X-Band direct broadcast transmissions from Earth Observing System (EOS) polar-orbiting satellites, used by meteorological and remote sensing operators to acquire real-time environmental data.
- EUMETCast System Ground station system for reception of EUMETSAT's EUMETCast environmental data dissemination service, enabling meteorological agencies and researchers to receive near-real-time satellite data products.
- HimawariCast System Reception system for the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) HimawariCast data service, used by regional meteorological agencies to ingest geostationary imagery and products from the Himawari satellites.
- GOES HRIT System Ground station system for reception of GOES High Rate Information Transmission (HRIT) broadcasts from NOAA geostationary weather satellites.
- GK-2A LRIT System Reception system for the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A) Low Rate Information Transmission (LRIT) service.
- GK-2A UHRIT System Reception system for the KMA GK-2A Ultra High Rate Information Transmission (UHRIT) data service, delivering high-resolution imagery and meteorological products.
- Polar Orbiter Ingester Software Software application for ingesting, decoding, and processing data streams from polar-orbiting weather and Earth observation satellites into usable meteorological products.
- Geostationary Ingester Software Software application for ingesting, decoding, and processing data streams from geostationary weather satellites (GOES, Himawari, GK-2A, EUMETCast) into usable meteorological products.
- iDAP/MacroPro Software Data processing and visualization software suite used by meteorological operators to manipulate, display, and distribute ingested satellite-derived data products.
Quantifiable outcome
- Systems proven reliable with no lost images even during intense rain or strong winds at University of Valladolid installation since April 2014
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
Feature4 records
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Aeromaritime Engineering FrancecoreDartcom's French distributor (formerly ACTRIS). Handles sales, installation and support of Dartcom products in France.
- Grafinta S.A.coreDartcom's Spanish distributor handling sales and support in Spain.
- Gestel LdacoreDartcom's Portuguese distributor.
- Kontrax LtdcoreDartcom's Bulgarian distributor.
- Meteo-Tech LtdcoreDartcom's Israeli distributor.
- JeoDijital LimitedcoreDartcom's Turkish distributor.
- Orion Technologies FZEcoreDartcom's Middle East distributor.
- Satcom TechnologiescoreDartcom's Indian distributor, based in Hyderabad. Described as Dartcom's premier distributor.
- Global-LGcoreDartcom's USA distributor.
- Canada Environmental AssistancecoreDartcom's Canadian distributor.
- ZELCOM LLCcoreDartcom's Japanese distributor.
- Toman International Co., Ltd.coreDartcom's Chinese distributor.
- WMK InccoreDartcom's South Korean distributor.
- ENGSAT (Engenharia e Serviços em Telecomunicações Ltda)coreDartcom's Brazilian distributor.
- ADR TECHNOLOGY S.A.C.coreDartcom's Peruvian distributor.
- PT Erindo Mulia PratamacoreDartcom's Indonesian distributor.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Calian SED Systems (formerly SED Systems): Canadian designer and integrator of satellite ground stations, antenna systems and control software for EO and telecom missions. Closely aligned with Dartcom on turnkey ground station delivery.
- Work Microwave GmbH: German manufacturer of satellite modulators, demodulators and up/down converters used in ground stations for earth observation and weather data reception. Directly comparable to Dartcom's RF/demodulator product layer.
- Datum Systems: US manufacturer of high-performance satellite modems and demodulators commonly deployed in earth-station and weather/EO receive chains. Comparable component-level overlap with Dartcom's demodulator products.
Broad incumbents
- Gilat Satellite Networks: Israel-based vendor of VSAT ground terminals, hubs and satellite communication equipment. Overlaps with Dartcom in satellite ground-segment hardware, though focused on broadband rather than EO/weather data.
- QinetiQ: UK defense and space technology company with space-ground-segment and signals-intelligence capabilities, frequently a UK government contractor on satellite ground systems. Geographic peer and potential adjacent competitor to Dartcom in the UK market.
- Comtech Telecommunications Corp. US-based provider of satellite ground station equipment, modems and cyber-hardened communications for government and commercial customers. Adjacent competitor in the satellite ground equipment market.
- ND SatCom (SES Techcom Services): European provider of satellite ground stations, VSAT hubs and antenna systems for government, defense and commercial markets. Comparable offering for full ground station turnkey projects, but at much larger scale.
- VT iDirect (ST Engineering iDirect): Provider of satellite ground infrastructure (hubs, modems, network management) for VSAT and government markets; broader portfolio but overlaps in ground-segment equipment.
- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (RT Logic / Kratos Ground Systems): US defense prime with a substantial satellite ground systems business (signal processing, RF, monitoring & control), serving EO, weather and defense satellite programs at a larger scale than Dartcom.
Emerging players
- KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services): Norwegian operator of a global network of ground stations providing satellite data as a managed service (including for METOP and NOAA missions). Competes indirectly with Dartcom by offering cloud-style alternatives to owning ground hardware.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD social profiles
Digital presenceDARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD
What does DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD do?
Dartcom Systems Ltd designs, manufactures, and supplies weather satellite reception ground station systems and associated ingester software. Its products capture, decode, and process real-time meteorological data broadcast by geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites operated by agencies such as NOAA, EUMETSAT, JMA, and KMA. Offerings span RF/antenna hardware subsystems, receiver electronics, and proprietary software for ingesting and processing satellite imagery and data streams.
Is DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD a public or private company?
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD founded?
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD was founded in 1997. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD based?
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD is headquartered in Yelverton, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD make money?
One revenue line is on record: satellite Ground Station Systems.
Who are DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Calian SED Systems (formerly SED Systems), Work Microwave GmbH and Datum Systems. Broad incumbents are Gilat Satellite Networks, QinetiQ, Comtech Telecommunications Corp., ND SatCom (SES Techcom Services), VT iDirect (ST Engineering iDirect) and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (RT Logic / Kratos Ground Systems). KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services) is listed as an emerging player.
Does DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD have an API?
No public API is recorded for DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD.
What industry is DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD in?
DARTCOM SYSTEMS LTD's product category is Satellite Ground Station Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAFAIAM, Satellite Broadband Terminals & Gateways (VSAT/LEO CPE). Its NAICS code is 334511 and its SIC code is 3663.