Augmented reality (AR) displays are image-forming systems that use a set of optical, electronic, and mechanical components to generate images somewhere on the optical path between an observer’s eyes and the physical object to be augmented.

AR provides a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment and augments (or supplements) this view with computer-generated input such as sound, video, graphics, 3D objects or GPS data.

Recently, a variety of satellite constellations, some of them featuring over a thousand satellites, were announced. While similar concepts for large constellations already existed in the past, existing satellite constellations hardly ever feature triple-digit satellite quantities. At the time of writing, the world’s largest constellation is operated by Planet Labs and consists of 190+ Dove spacecraft.

Recent trends in miniaturisation of space hardware combined with the provision of affordable and standardised spacecraft components and structures is opening up space to new players and is rapidly increasing the traffic into orbit.

Project innovations in different knowledge domains

In summary, this activity used simulated and analysed parameters for each component to define the requirements for each application. For the flight model, the most important parameters are power consumption, cost and mass of the components. The power consumption and mass of components are acquired from the datasheets. Since space qualification is needed for these components the cost estimation is a difficult task. For example, even for the passive component the price difference between non-qualified, qualifiable and qualified devices is rather high.

The DTN-EO study was initiated in order to research the performance of DTN in future missions, particularly Earth observation and constellation-type missions. In the original proposal, ESA stipulated three scenarios which were to be tested: Earth observation, constellation, and exploration missions. These scenarios built upon each other, starting with an Earth observation-centric mission such as the Sentinel missions, before moving to a large constellation. Ultimately, the DTN network from the first two scenarios was expanded to represent a deep-space exploration mission.

Background and justification: