About us
We are a Global Leader in Innovative SIGINT and Space-Based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Intelligence Solutions.
Horizon Technologies is a UK small business with our headquarters, and our operations facility in Reading, Berkshire. Together with subcontractors, we employ over one hundred people in the UK, and are a proud member of ADS.
Horizon Aerospace Technologies is the world leader in airborne Sat Phone monitoring systems for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications, equipping governments worldwide by enhancing their SIGINT capabilities. We are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the FlyingFish™ BlackFish™ SIGINT systems.
Horizon Space Technologies is the prime contractor for the UK Government CubeSat SIGINT AMBER™ program. The AMBER Program will consist of AMBER CubeSats in multiple orbital planes providing global Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) data to NMIC (led by the Royal Navy). The AMBER constellation will geolocate, and demodulate the full spectrum of RF signals.
Organisation history
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1993
Building off John Beckner’s work in Washington, DC for the US House of Representatives and for Teledyne Industries Inc. in Brussels, Belgium, Horizon Technologies was founded. Clients include L3Harris, Raytheon Technologies, BAES, Telephonics, etc. and products spanned from NVGs, radars to fully equipped ISR aircraft. Tens of Millions of dollars in business for its clients.
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2012
As part of marketing efforts for clients in South Africa, CEO John Beckner was involved in South Africa’s attempt to combat maritime piracy. Beckner had the idea of a dual-use commercial passive airborne SIGINT system to geolocate and monitor Sat Phones. This concept turned into a product: FlyingFish™.
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2013
First sales of FlyingFish™ to a NATO end-user.
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2015
Due to the hard work by Horizon’s marketing team, 2nd Generation of FlyingFish™ enters the market, and first sales to a Middle East customer.
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2016
R&D starts into Xtender concept whereby the RF portion of FlyingFish™ is remoted into an SDR. This will later form the basis of Amber™
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2017
Yearly FlyingFish sales grow to £3 Million per year. Reading facility is expanded to a full text and support centre. 3rdGeneration of FlyingFish™ enters the market.
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2018
First sales on NATO rotary-wing aircraft, and partnership with Linwave Ltd. in Lincoln as our technology partner and manufacturing centre.
Horizon is awarded an £600k IUK Grant for the development of a data processing centre (Amber™ Data Centre) for spaced-based SIGINT data.
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2019
Horizon wins the Satellite Applications Catapult IOD-3 / Amber™ Programme as a joint public/private partnership with the UK Government to launch Horizon’s first Amber™ SIGINT CubeSat in 2023.
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2020
Horizon’s FlyingFish™ sales increase to £4m annually
Horizon’s engineering team starts development of an all-new hardware product; BlackFish™ to eventually replace FlyingFish™.
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2021
Horizon completes its Series A investment with Maven Capital Partners in May.
BlackFish™ development is complete, and first sales are announced.
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2022
Horizon’s Amber-1 CubeSat was lost on the Virgin Orbit UK launch in January. In 2023, Horizon received a £1.2 Million grant from the UK Space Agency for Amber-2 to replace the lost satellite and payload. Amber-2 is scheduled for launch in 2025.
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2024
Horizon’s business expanded exponentially in 2024. Horizon was awarded contracts totaling than $10 Million for terrestrial AmberPersistent™ payloads for 24/7 real-time intelligence collection around strategic chokepoints worldwide. These customers include US and UK Government end users. These systems will be integrated into the Amber™ network in 2025 when space-based data becomes available.
OUR MOTTO
Horizon Technologies.
Others detect, we define.
Our people
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John Beckner
CEO
John Beckner has been active in aerospace, both in and out of government, for over 30 years.
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Rakesh Sharma, OBE FREng CPhys MInstP
Chairman of the Board
Rakesh Sharma is a former FTSE 250 CEO with 20 years experience.
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Dr Niel Kempson, CB FR
Eng CEO
Niel Kempson worked for GCHQ for 42 years, most recently as the Director General for Technology
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Nick Lambert
Board Member
A master mariner and a committed proponent of the maritime users’ perspective.
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Bash Ahmed
COO, Horizon Aerospace Technologies
Bash Ahmed has over 40 years’ experience working in the military defense industry.
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Dave Saunders
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Saunders has over 40 years’ experience in the electronic communications industry.
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Jeff Blake
VP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Blake heads up the Horizon Technologies finance operation in the UK.
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Roberta Rudd, AMP, MBA
Head of Strategic Programmes, Horizon Space Technologies
Roberta Rudd has 20 years’ experience working in the Space Industry
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