Paper Category: Technology
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Miniature Mechanically Pumped Loop for Standardized Small-Satellite Thermal Control: In-Orbit Demonstration Model Development and Qualification
With the rapid growth of the space economy, the demand for increasingly high-performance satellites has risen significantly. The need for increased performance is typically accompanied by higher power consumption, leading to elevated heat generation and challenging thermal environments onboard spacecraft, particularly for small satellites with limited thermal margins. As a result, new thermal control concepts…
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Transforming Space Transportation with Automotive Manufacturing Principles
As global demand for satellite communications and data connectivity accelerates, the need for reliable, frequent, and cost-effective launches has become increasingly urgent. However, the space industry continues to face a supply bottleneck: traditional rockets remain complex, expensive, and slow to manufacture. Overcoming this challenge will require adopting scalable, industrial-grade manufacturing approaches. Interstellar Technologies, a private…
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Predictive MPPT AI algorithm for fast response during tumbling conditions
Efficient power harvesting for small satellites is critical for mission success, especially during the initial detumbling phase and in case of attitude control anomalies. In these scenarios, the illumination conditions of the solar panels can vary at high frequency, and conventional Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques may struggle to reach a point of good…
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Design, prototyping and mechanical testing of a trifilar deployable helix antenna for CubeSat applications
Deployable helical antennas are often used in space in the VHF and UHF transmission bands because they provide high gain, large bandwidth, and high directivity with circular polarization while maintaining relatively low fabrication complexity. Usually, these deployable antennas are composed of a main foldable, non-conducting isolated structure which acts as the helicoid support for the…
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Structured Radio Wave Generation for Target State Estimation via Satellite Formations
This paper discusses next-generation radar systems utilizing structured radio waves, which allow for the integrated control of wavefront structure, polarization state, and phase. By leveraging the azimuthal information inherent in Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes, structured radio wave radar mitigates image distortion issues common in conventional plane-wave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Furthermore, it enables advanced…
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Multi-sensor architectures for thermal imaging missions
Among the innovative offerings that NewSpace companies bring to the space industry, one of them is constellations of thermal instruments. Thermal infrared (TIR) imagers are inherently more challenging to calibrate and geolocate than visible and near-infrared (VNIR) instruments due to: • their lower spatial resolution • higher sensor noise levels and, • scarcity of stable…
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Multiclass Satellite Payload for SAR
This work investigates a multiclass spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload architecture aimed at enabling distributed and scalable Earth Observation missions using NanoSats and/or MicroSats in cooperative satellite swarms. The proposed architecture addresses the challenge of achieving high performance SAR imaging within the inherent mass, volume and power constraints of small satellites while supporting advanced…
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Lattice: A Rapid-Transition Ku-Band Metasurface Radar for Sovereign Responsive Space
As Europe and its allies pivot toward space sovereignty and resilient orbital architectures, the demand for high-performance, rapid-delivery Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capabilities has become critical. This paper presents Lattice, a prototype spaceborne radar system designed to provide a low-risk, high-fidelity transition of ground-proven radar technology into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment. Developed by…
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Payload Operation using On-Board Vision Language Model
The rapid maturation of multimodal vision-language models (VLMs) has significantly expanded artificial intelligence applications at the edge, including spaceborne systems. In this work, we present one of the first demonstrations of deploying a compact vision-language model directly on a very-high-resolution Earth-observation satellite payload processor [1], enabling autonomous on-orbit scene understanding and near real-time decision-making. This…
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Tiny Telescope: Monolithic Diffraction-Limited Imaging
The Tiny Telescope is a compact, fully integrated monolithic telescope, designed to address the stringent volume, mass, and alignment constraints of small satellite missions. By integrating refractive and reflective optical surfaces, internal baffles, and structural features within a single optical element, the Tiny Telescope eliminates the need for complex multi-element assemblies and post-integration alignment. This…