Nebula Public Library

AbC is a compact on-board algorithm, initially intended for CubeSats, to measure the absolute direction of a distant beacon with optimised accuracy. The AbC environment anticipates a ground pipeline that has been used with OPS-SAT images to diagnose the ADCS. It has been shown that a ground-truth assessment of the satellite's orientation can be made which, with sufficient data, could allow precise re-alignment of multiple sensors. The ESA contract funded the implementation of the on-board algorithm in C++ and its pipeline in Python.

Almost all types of satellite sensors are actively or passively cooled, in many cases down to cryogenic temperatures. The goal is to suppress thermal noise in order to achieve the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, cryocoolers are critical components in satellite systems, and in many cases key enablers. For instance in Earth Observation (EO) systems, mechanical cryocoolers are preferred over passive ones. The reason is that passive radiators induce constraints on satellite orbit and attitude.

GaN-based devices are becoming a key technology for millimeter-wave applications. Because of outstanding material properties, recent advances in GaN device designs provided a sharp increase in performances including high power, high efficiency, reliability, linearity, and compact size. These capabilities are ideally suited for numerous millimeter-wave power applications such as wireless networks and PAs MMIC for Q-band frequency and beyond.

The main objective of the intelligent COTS-based Power Stages (iCOTS) project consisted of the following aspects:

• Design and implementation of a BLDC power stage for robotic space application
• A modular design for the evaluation of power electronics in robotic space application based on COTS GaN-FETs
• Definition of the design process and the appropriate selection of COTS components
• Radiation test of selected COTS components