Elecnor Deimos signs a contract to develop the critical elements of sat4EO satellite programme

Elecnor Deimos starts the development of critical elements of its sat4EO satellite programme, a low-cost very high resolution satellite system

3rd of September, 2020

Elecnor Deimos, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and Teledyne e2v are pleased to announce the signature of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of critical elements of Elecnor Deimos’s sat4EO satellite programme, a low-cost very high-resolution satellite system. The contract forms part of ESA’s InCubed Programme to develop new commercial Earth Observation (EO) based products and deliver then quickly to market with the support of the national delegations of Spain (CDTI), UK (UKSA) and Romania (ROSA).

By combining miniaturised solutions, on the edge technology, and with built-in redundancy based on constellations, new space solutions like sat4EO fill the niche gap between the costly high performance big satellites and low-cost systems with limited operational capabilities, ensuring cost-efficient very high resolution satellites that meet the needs of present and upcoming EO customers and users.

The ESA InCubed programme contributes to this endeavour by providing financial support and expertise in several key areas for this challenging system, in particular for the AOCS (Attitude and Orbit Control System) subsystem and the IPC (Instrument Product Chain). The funding will support:

• An agile and precise AOCS, led by Deimos Space, optimising target acquisition as well as image quality, key elements for the required performance
• The development and qualification of a very high-resolution optical payload, led by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, with Teledyne e2v providing the state of the art on chip TDI CMOS sensor and DEIMOS Space the ground processor and exploitation platform.

About Elecnor Deimos

Elecnor Deimos, comprising subsidiaries in Spain, UK, Portugal, Romania and Italy, is devoted to space systems engineering including complete satellite systems and downstream solutions.

Elecnor Deimos, founded in 2001, has been involved in the majority of European Space Agency programmes, including Science, exploration, Earth observation, satellite navigation and launchers, as well as in other institutional and commercial markets.

Elecnor Deimos is the technology branch of ELECNOR, one of the leading global players in engineering, construction and development of infrastructure projects.

About Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is at the forefront of space innovation and is the world’s leading small satellite company, delivering customisable complete mission solutions for Earth observation, science, communications, navigation, in-orbit debris removal and servicing and exploration beyond Earth infrastructure.

Since 1981, SSTL has built and launched more than 60 satellites for 20 international customers, as well as providing training and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA, NASA, international governments and commercial customers.

SSTL is well known for innovative missions such as the CARBONITE video imaging satellites, the NovaSAR S-band radar imaging satellite and the RemoveDEBRIS space debris removal technology demonstrator.

Headquartered in Guildford, UK, SSTL is part of Airbus.

More information at https://www.sstl.co.uk/

About Teledyne e2v

The Teledyne e2v CMOS TDI sensor, part of the Orbis product family, employs innovative CMOS technology, sensor design and techniques to provide one of the most advanced EO sensors available. Key features include CCD-on-CMOS architecture, four PAN and six MS channel, half pixel shift on the Pan channels for sub-pixel resolution and 5 micron PAN pixels to achieve an unrivalled Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) capability. The Orbis sensor offers 20CML outputs for very high speed readout and 16,000 PAN columns providing high temporal resolution capability.