Our Satellites are in Orbit
LoLaSat aims at enabling satellite communication systems in 200 km to 300 km orbits for applications requiring a very low latency of less than 10 ms. The activity covers payload and platform development, manufacturing and six months of operations to characterise the orbital environment and test the functionality, versatility and performance of the communication link in this orbital range.
S4 contributes crucial components for attitude control and onboard computing to this European top science ERC Advanced Grant. The formation is composed of 4 small satellites with the objective to analyze different 3Dtopologies for scientific measurements. S4 turntables were used for testing activity strategies for instruments, intersatellite links and selforganization for best observation results.
In the CUBE mission Quantum keys are generated onboard a small satellite and distributed to the communication partners via secure optical links with entangled photons. S4 contributions include the satellite precision pointing devices and crucial tests for optical links.
3 satellites point their cameras to the same area to generate by sensor data fusion 3dimensional surface features. These photogrammetric observations require accurate pointing and tracking capabilities, tested by S4. Also OBDH and AOCS subsystems were contributed.
Inspired by medical Computed Tomography (CT), a formation composed of 10 satellites reveals internal 3D structures and properties of clouds for improved climate predictions. This mission is realized with an ERC Synergy Grant, one of the European top science awards, addressing challenging and outstanding interdisciplinary topics. S4 contributions for robust onboard computing, accurate AOCS and instrumentation design, as well as high precision pointing in imaging are considered.
In Internet of Things low bandwidth connectivity between sensors on ground can be provided via small satellites in a cost efficient way for large, poorly populated areas.
