SAT 4EO – a satellite for every one

Developing a high-performance, but low cost satellite wit very high resolution products would open the Earth Observation market to a new audience, opening the path for new applications and ultimately encouraging competitiveness. Very High Resolution products are not currently covered by the space industry, and so a new low cost satellite, with turnkey technology could open the market considerably.

A new activity, with GSTP Element 2 and DEIMOS (Spain), has just kicked off, to develop a spacecraft to do just that. 

The seven phases of SAT4EO opened the market with low cost solutions, merged optical very high resolution products with low-cost microsatellites, aligned the space craft with the current market, improved know-how, performance and covered a variety of different applications – from natural disaster, to energy through to natural resources and security.

The activity intended to deliver a fully qualified satellite that could eventually be modified in future iteration for customers or tailored to industries.

To reach this point, a variety of technologies had to first be developed or bought, from a high-resolution optical payload, to a data handling subsystem, attitude and orbit control subsystem, and a new propulsion subsystem.

Based on the complexity of the two most critical technologies, the High Resolution Optical Payload and the Imager Processor, and their current TRL status, a dedicated plan was needed for their development. The activity chose to utilise already existing technology for the High Resolution Optical Payload, to build on the extensive experience of the design, alignment and bonding of components such as primary mirrors or lenses to advance the TRL level quickly.

All four critical technologies are still progressing through design, product and readiness reviews, with the intention of having a fully developed spacecraft platform and payload to be launched by 2024.

G621-053SY kicked off in 2020.