Plastic marine litter is a very complex global environmental issue, with plastic litter at the sea surface representing only a small fraction of plastic entering the sea. In this respect, the BLUE project investigated the potential of diverse LIDAR techniques (backscatter, fluorescence, Raman) to address the detection of plastic litter not only floating on the sea surface, but also suspended in the first few metres under the surface, with also a focus on detecting microplastics and discriminating plastic from other types of litter. The approach adopted was four-fold:
For plastic detection, characterisation and tracking, we need rich spectral information, ideally hyperspectral data. We would like hyperspectral data up to short-wave infrared (2500 nm) and around 0.5 m ground sample distance. Neither of these characteristics are existent in current Earth observation missions, and will still be difficult to find in future Earth observation missions.
Future long-duration space missions or planetary outposts, such as on the Moon or Mars, will need solutions for producing food in situ, with a view to:
The ESA Open Space Innovation Platform Campaign for Cognitive Cloud Computing in Space (3CS) called for project proposals for the use of edge and cloud computing technologies in space. D-Orbit created a consortium including UniBap and Trillium to respond to this opportunity with a proposal to engage the cloud computing community to identify and fly applications on the ION SCV-004 mission.
Lunar exploration has only started within the last few decades, and interest is continuing to grow. Space agencies and private investors are looking at the opportunities that it brings and see more commercial interest in it. According to a Euroconsult study, 51 missions to the Moon are planned in 2020–2029, compared to just seven in the previous decade, allowing us to better explore Earth's natural satellite and prepare for long-term lunar exploration and, in the future, deep space.
As humans travel further into the Solar System for longer periods of time, many challenges must be solved. One challenge is ensuring an adequate food supply for the crew. Currently all of the food that is consumed by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) is prepackaged on Earth and transported to the ISS. This approach requires a significant investment of mass and the long-term stability of nutrients in the stored food is unclear. Especially the impact of radiation outside of low-Earth orbit may have a negative impact on the stored food.
The Data Compression as a Service (DCaaS) study aims to bring the benefits of data compression to the experimenters on ESA's OPS-SAT platform. It focuses on using the POCKET+ algorithm for the compression of housekeeping telemetry data. The project contains a space component, which performs 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).
As proved in several missions, the Lorentz force acting on the electric current carried by a space electrodynamic tether (EDT) can be used to propel spacecraft without using propellant. State-of-the-art EDTs involve a bare tape for passive electron collection (anodic contact) and an active device, or a tether segment coated with a low-work-function material, for electron emission (cathodic contact).
In this project, the University of Luxembourg studied and evaluated a new concept of connecting space missions via space internet providers. The system requirements, necessary adaptations, and possible limitations are provided and discussed. Three types of space internet provider were studied and evaluated: Starlink, OneWeb and O3b mPOWER.