Thermo-optical coatings are used to control and to protect sensitive surfaces of satellites and spacecrafts. The paints are mostly either black (high alpha) and conducting or they are white (low alpha) and non-conducting. Most paint also do not originate from Europe. COIN COAT is an acronym for COnducting Inert Non-hazardous COATings and wants to overcome the statement that a conducting paint needs to be black.

The objective of the SysAOCS project was to investigate the use of SysML to digitalize the AOCS/GNC description. The project started in February 2022 and was organized into 4 tasks running for a total duration of 1 year. The first task was devoted to the investigation of previous related activities and the selection of two study cases. Among the different SysML methodologies, the SysML ESA Solution was selected and used to build a dedicated AOCS/GNC profile.

The Data Compression as a Service (DCaaS) study aimed to bring the benefits of data compression to the experimenters on ESA's OPS-SAT platform. It focused on using the POCKET+ algorithm for the compression of housekeeping telemetry data. The project contained a space component, which performed the compression of provided user data, and a ground component, for the decompression of transmitted user data. Three use cases were selected within the scope of the project: file-to-file, packet-to-packet, and stream-to-stream lossless data transfers.

CubeSats have the potential to revolutionise Earth observation from space by exploring different operating points in terms of spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. However, physical limitations, mostly in terms of size, prevent them from obtaining high-quality images. OPS-SAT, while characteriaed by a small form factor, provides an impressively capable and flexible hardware/software platform for executing demanding machine learning algorithms (inference stage).

Future missions are currently being proposed / designed with existing (or moderately inproved) Space-to-Earth communication capabilities in mind. Optical communications technology offers the potential of a dramatic increase in data-rates, specifically in the down-link of science data, thereby allowing for a substantial increase in science return.Direct detection technology using pulse position modulation (PPM) is regarded as the preferred solution for "deep space" optical links.

A digital twin merges a data model with AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology and the existing expertise. It hence allows for an unsurpassed level of monitoring via real-time and continuous assessment and evaluation, precise diagnostics, maintenance prediction, downtime prevention and maximised equipment effectiveness. The Digital Twin concept is getting more and more traction, and is envisaged notably for space missions or for spacecraft.

Lunar regolith can be sintered/melted by intensive solar or laser radiation to dense and rigid structures. For reaching the required energy densities, sunlight can be focused by means of mirrors or lenses. In the present study, solar radiation is simulated by a CO2 laser system, providing a maximum power output of 12 kW cw. The laser has been used to generate large laser spots of 50 mm respectively 100 mm. In both cases a parallel laser beam with the same diameter of the laser spot has been generated to make the spot diameter independent of the distance to the target powder.

Recent developments in optimisation formulation and software design have allowed multi-criteria optimisation problems to be solved in real-time on typical space-grade processors. An important potential application is slew attitude guidance in the presence of actuator limitations and star tracker or instrument exclusion zones, particularly when slew time is critical.The optimisation problem can be formulated as time, fuel or pointing error (during slew) minimisation with constraints of exclusion zones and actuator authority envelopes.