MANTIS (Mission and Agile Nanosatellite for Terrestrial Imagery Services) is a mission to provide high-resolution imagery to address a wide range of user applications in sectors such as energy, agriculture, forestry, maritime, urban and rural development. The energy user case will be addressed by Terrabotics, a data-analytics company that will apply proprietary workflows broadly based on Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) to detect and measure change occurring across the energy supply chain at different sites around the world.
The aforementioned user cases are generally very demanding both in terms of data quality and coverage/revisit time. The MANTIS mission is being developed to specifically fulfil those requirements using a compact and agile 12U Cubesat system engineered by Open Cosmos Ltd. The MANTIS satellite is targeting a 515km, sun-synchronous orbit with a local time of the ascending node (LTAN) of 22:30. Combined with the satellite roll capability, a point on the equator can be revisited in less than 6 days.
MANTIS will embark the iSIM-12U (integrated Standard Imager for Microsatellites), an innovative high-resolution optical payload for Earth Observation missions developed by Satlantis Microsats SL. The Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) of the post-processed images will be 2.5m in RGB and 3.0m in NIR. An Image Processing Payload (IPP) will provide the capability for on-board Artificial Intelligence (AI) via feature detection neural networks, such as for cloud detection to optimise downlink usage, and with capability to support other small-feature detection applications.
The highly capable platform hosts a bidirectional S-band TT&C link, and also an X-band payload data downlink baselined at a rate in excess of 400 Mbps, but with scope to increase significantly for a favourable propagation channel. In addition to the DVB-S2 standard used on the X-band downlink, an innovative, bidirectional protocol adds further link resilience, to maximise the downlink capacity of any pass. Combined with high latitude ground stations to support several passes per day, this data capacity enables delivery of customer data within 6 hours of it being acquired.
The platform is served by both deployable and body-mounted, high-efficiency solar cells that can generate in excess of 100 W, which are managed by an upgraded EPS with a battery configuration tuned to prolong the life of the mission.
A new automated cloud based Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) system will enable flexible image processing of raw satellite imagery to L1C and L2A data products. The PDGS will reduce the latency between payload data download to customer access. This PDGS is complemented with a new data platform able to cope with varied data sources (satellite and drone imagery, in-situ sensors…) that allows not only to catalog but, to serve full resolution imagery, both radiometric and geometric, through a web interface or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The platform includes a set of predefined applications, and supports rapid application prototyping (using a Python API in Jupyter Notebooks) and the addition of bespoke applications into it. Finally, end users will be able to request new images by tasking the satellite from the same platform. The image requests will automatically be uploaded to the satellite, reducing the need for operator intervention.
The presentation will focus in more depth on the key areas of technology development and user cases, based on the Open Cosmos data platform.
Climate change is already strongly changing our environment and global food security is beginning to falter. Hyperfield service provides global, daily and actionable real-time data on ecological assets through spaceborne hyperspectral imaging and AI. This novel small satellite-based solution enables creating a constellation of tens of satellites highly cost-efficiently, providing affordable data even for developing countries. The service helps farmers in precision farming as well as bio-asset owners, businesses and governments get better insight for making effective decisions towards sustainable farming, carbon sequestration and reduction of climate effects.
The first generation satellite for the constellation is currently being developed in an ESA InCubed project jointly by Kuva Space and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The 6U CubeSat carries a novel in-orbit tunable high-resolution hyperspectral imager covering visual to near-infrared wavelengths. Further satellite generations will also cover short-wave infrared wavelengths by including additional imaging channels. The imager technology concept has already been successfully demonstrated in the company’s Reaktor Hello World mission launched in 2018. The validation mission operations will be performed from Kuva Space’s mission control and ground-station in Espoo, Finland. The downlinked hyperspectral data is processed on ground to validate its usability to selected customer and end user applications. Advanced AI/ML-based hyperspectral data analytics are currently being developed concurrently with the ESA InCubed project. The eventual satellite constellation will be launched after this validation mission and consists of tens of small satellites, providing up to daily re-visits and data acquisition from areas of interest anywhere on the globe supported by a distributed network of ground stations.
In this presentation, we will present the hyperspectral data service and its current development status. The first generation satellite currently under development in the InCubed program will be presented including its planned mission operations and service validation campaigns. Hyperspectral data applications enabled by the eventual service will be showcased to provide insights to the added value of frequent spaceborne hyperspectral imaging and analytics.
DEIMOS is currently developing its next proprietary Very-High Resolution (VHR) small satellite, Sat4EO+, to meet current and upcoming market needs for Earth Observation products derived from a sub-meter optical imaging capability. Sat4EO+ is an agile low-cost ~200kg VNIR optical satellite, providing ~50cm native VHR imaging, that is intended to support commercial and institutional programmes. The satellite is designed to operate either as a single satellite or in a small constellation; it can provide sub-daily imaging globally as a constellation of three satellites. As a differentiating capability, in Sat4EO+, responsiveness has been included as a key performance parameter, with a requirement that the Sat4EO+ provide responsiveness down to 10 minutes, globally, for high-priority products. This ensures that the satellite can meet standard market needs and also applications requiring high responsiveness, such as security, disaster monitoring and nowcasting, and more generally on-demand and almost-real-time services.
The SAT4EO+ programme is supported by the ESA Incubed SAT4EOCE activity, for the “Development of Critical Elements of the SAT4EO+ programme”. Started in 2020, the activity is now in the 2nd of its planned 3 years of activities. It is supported by the Spanish, UK and Romanian delegations.
The ESA Incubed SAT4EOCE activity provides cost-effective and high-performance solutions for VHR (~50 cm) imaging in minisatellites, while meeting customer needs in terms of low budget, low risk and turn-key products. It provides key technologies for the DEIMOS SAT4EO VHR satellite programme, namely the Image Product Chain (IPC) and the AOCS subsystem, that are also commercialised globally.
The Image Product Chain (IPC), composed of the products of the EO imager, the on-board Instrument Processor, the ground Instrument Processor and the cloud-based Exploitation Platform, enables a Very High-Resolution (VHR) imaging system to be incorporated in a minisatellite end-to-end mission, reducing significantly the cost of the mission, enabling constellations, and providing for reliable and timely VHR (~50 cm) data for customers worldwide.
The AOCS COTS subsystem product is an engineered HW and SW solution for minisatellites, with performances enabling ~50 cm ground resolution imaging, via very high pointing stability and accuracy, and high duty cycle imaging, via agility and autonomy. The AOCS COTS product is designed and developed as a qualified low-mass and low-cost AOCS solution, in line with market needs, and enabling fast and low-risk deployment in minisat and smallsat programmes.
This paper will describe the SAT4EO+ programme status and more specifically the status of the AOCS and IPC developments currently on-going in the frame of the SAT4EOCE activity. The paper will provide information on the key capabilities of the AOCS and IPC developments, their maturity and availability as standalone HW and SW products, and as solutions for minisatellites and the smallsat/newspace EO market.
Wildfires heavily contribute to global warming as they emit tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions yearly. Estimates by the UN project a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 per cent by 2030, and 30 per cent by the end of 2050. Climate change and land-use change accelerates this development, making wildfires more frequent and intense in the future. This could dangerously affect the delicate global balance between CO2 emissions and sinks and become part of a vicious cycle that is no longer local, but global. Emissions by wildfires will increase climate change and extreme weather conditions and vice versa.
In response, there is a need for technological innovations to manage fires on a global scale. The environmental, economic, and societal problems show a clear need for an all-in-one downstream service for wildfire management based on space and non-space generated data. Existing non-space solutions for wildfire detection are inadequate and financially unviable, especially for monitoring larger forest areas. Space-based solutions could theoretically close this gap, but available solutions on the market suffer from a lack of accessibility, usability, and data sources.
OroraTech is developing an end-to-end solution that strongly addresses this problem on a global scale. Our current wildfire service aggregates 21 satellite data sources in thermal-infrared on a global scale, standing out in comparison to existing publicly available downstream service solutions. Data fusion with local sensors and overlays for weather and terrain data further enhance the value added for the users. As a result, detection times are lower, and monitoring capabilities are higher than in other options. The wildfire product is currently used by different customer groups (fire services, commercial forestry sector, insurer) around the globe.
One of the most critical improvements requested is to provide satellite data at local afternoon times, where a gap in current data exists and the wildfire intensity peaks. We intend to close this gap with a so-called minimum viable constellation of nanosatellites, placed in a sun-synchronous orbit at local afternoon time. Complementing existing satellite data sources by our nanosatellites will increase the quality of detection, the revisit rate, and the monitoring capabilities and broaden our portfolio use-cases in more detail. The insights produced by the data, provided either through our proprietary platform or through an API, could also revolutionize areas like insurance, disaster management (wildfires, volcanoes), water management & urban heat mapping, agriculture, disease mapping and monitoring of industrial risks, like air pollution and oil spills.
Within ESA’s InCubed program, we are tackling some of the biggest challenges ahead of this minimum viable constellation. We will launch our first own nanosatellite mission within InCubed, flying a novel thermal infrared camera with sensitivity in mid-wave and long-wave infrared on a 6U platform in late 2023. Using in-house developed GPU and intersatellite modules, we will be able to cut down the notification time for our customers by processing the data in orbit and relaying it down in near-real time. The data collected by the satellite will help to better understand the behaviour of wildfires and help to cut down the environmental, economic, and societal costs for areas that are hit by fires.
Objective/Scope
MSCM (MultiSpectral Companion Mission) is one of the constellations developed by Aerospacelab with the objective of making geospatial intelligence actionable and affordable, by providing a daily global coverage of high-quality multispectral data product by operating a constellation of its own innovative satellites and payloads. Under the InCubed contract, Aerospacelab is developing an In-Orbit prototype based on its Versatile Satellite Platform (VSP), an ESPA-class satellite platform developed internally.
“New Space” and the innovative element
Sentinel-2 data is suitable for a wide range of use cases and commercial applications. While exploring the geospatial downstream market, Aerospacelab discovered that revisit was a stringent bottleneck, hindering a lot of potential applications – especially in agriculture where the 5 days revisit can translate into weeks without data due to cloud induced coverage disruptions.
A key concept is to seek seamless interoperability between MSCM and existing/future Sentinel-2 data products by matching data quality requirements, while maintaining a cost-effective approach. A wide range of companies and institutions currently use Copernicus’ Sentinel-2 data products to generate valuable insights, specifically for Natural Resources monitoring, Environmental Protection, and Food Security applications. MSCM aims at supporting this pool of users by providing them with comparable multispectral high-quality data, with a much-increased revisit frequency.
Commercial application aspect
Satellite imagery users are waiting for a data product combining the high quality of Sentinel-2 with high revisit rate.
Three main types of users will benefit from MSCM data products:
1. European institutions
2. Private commercial companies, including:
• Value-Added Services providers
• Large scale commodity traders/producers and financial services providers
3. Other Sentinel-2 users including Non-Governmental Organizations, institutions, or research centers.
Aerospacelab intends to deliver through a dedicated User Portal the MSCM data, archive or fresh, in:
• Level 1C
• Level 2A
This data is provided through subscriptions to the users, among which private companies delivering crop management services. Ad-hoc requests is being studied for specific use cases.