Projects

The future of the Satcoms industries and its technologies, materials, and processes offers many opportunities for supply chains from a broad range of sectors. Other industries may have already resolved challenges and developed solutions from which the satcom sector can benefit.  This study identifies high potential technology transfer opportunities and develops a strategy to exploit a selected technology, whilst presenting several other viable concepts for further investigation post-project.

In this project the linearisation of the RF chain will be obtained through Digital predistortion (DPD) of the amplifier’s input signal. 
Linearisation allows to reach better performances in transmission RF systems, in terms of efficiency and spurious components suppression.

This process has become the most common linearisation solution to address the trade-off between linearity and efficiency.
 

The aim of the study is to define an ambitious roadmap for payloads in the C/Ku-band core market in order to achieve a significant competitiveness improvement.

Artificial Intelligence for satellite communications will impose new requirements on computer processors, which will have to support large workloads as efficiently in harsh environmental conditions. Neuromorphic processing (NP) is emerging as a bio-inspired solution to address pattern recognition tasks involving multiple, temporal signals and/or requiring continuous learning. The main merits of this technology are energy efficiency and on-device adaptability. 

Home users and companies need to transmit / receive high bit rate information and services with high availability and in a ubiquitous manner. At the same time the European Commission, which has proposed a challenging program that includes 100% coverage of users with aspeed of at least 30 Mbps by 2020. In SAT4NET we analyse the technical and economic feasibility of meeting such ambitious targets using the xDSL technology complemented by satellite as a supplementary service when the ground network performance is limited.

QUIC is a new encrypted-by-default Internet transport protocol that accelerates HTTP traffic and which has the intention to eventually replace TCP. The project objectives are to identify the root causes of any shortfalls in QUIC performance over satellite, influence and propose changes to the specification, and evaluate them using a real-time emulation test bed. The results of this work are contributed to the IETF.

Telecom satellite transponder specifications relating to transmission performances which may be overly stringent, and which could be relaxed, thereby reducing satellite overall cost and schedule.

Development of network management software for satellite constellation networks with optical ISLs to achieve high-throughput and low-latency global communication. It addresses challenges in topology design, routing, and resource allocation, considering the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of satellite networks. The solution leverages machine learning to optimize performance, serving as a reference for future deployments.

New technologies like small, mobile VSAT terminals, high throughput satellites (HTS) and the growing popularity of satellite mega constellations are a major reason why interference has become an increasingly significant problem in recent years. Sophisticated interference detection and geolocation systems have been developed in the past years to combat the rising interference challenge. SkyMon PED is significantly improving the efficiency of such systems by providing very accurate orbit determination data for all active satellites in the GEO, MEO and LEO orbit.

The objective of the activity is to design, develop and test methodologies and algorithms supporting trade-off analysis, performance evaluation, and operational concept of large non-geostationary constellations for commercial and secure communications. ​

The methodologies and algorithms developed shall be applied and tested in a software simulation on a satellite constellation for commercial and secure services.​

IDEAA has been conceived as a key project to increase Power Electronics competitiveness for Active Antennas, to offer better performances (flexibility, mass, volume and efficiency) and more competitive price.

Constellation Operation Infrastructure (COPI) project co-funded by Spire and European Space Agency (ESA) and supported by Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA)  

Through the Constellation OPeration Infrastructure (COPI) project, Spire has developed a web user interface (UI) that automates end-to-end satellite operations, removing the complexity of the underlying technology and processes to operate space assets. The UI allows users to connect directly with their satellites to task, schedule and monitor every aspect of their payload, data, fleet health and mission planning.

Development of critical technologies that are needed for the implementation of VDE-SAT on small platforms such as cubesats or microsatellites, characterized with limited resources and system budget constraints.

In this project Space Norway led a consortium together with Comrod AS and Kongsberg Discovery Seatex who designed and developed a RHCP VHF antenna. This antenna is used within the Satellite VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). The new antenna improves upon link quality and reduces multipath fading compared with the traditional vertical dipole antenna currently in use.

Analysis and selection of earth-qualified optical MUX/DEMUX devices, performances verification in facilities emulating typical space environment and robustness evaluation against harsh environments.

With Direct to device satellite connectivity, 3GPP has opened up a whole new paradigm in mobile communication by introducing the NTN feature. It is expected to gain quickly market traction. Operators will need to decide on the architecture options available and which deployment models to use for this new ecosystem.

The aim of the project is to develop a power supply for Ka/Q/V-Band Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) and associated technologies. The power supply should be modular, flexible and capable to function at high temperature. 

The objective of project DOMUK (on the basis of the requirements defined in the ITT) is to develop compact and innovative high-power Output Demultiplexers (ODEMUX) for on-board satellite applications based on the ceramic-loaded resonators at Ku-band and Ka-band. Some breadboard (BB) models and two engineering model (EM) will be manufactured and experimentally verified to fully validate the proposed concepts. The target TRL is 5-6.

Optical Communications Systems are becoming a reality in the realm of small LEO platforms, implementing either inter-satellite or Direct‑to‑Earth links. This activity will develop an optical communication terminal based on a new paradigm, where a single electro-optical device performing motionless-optical beam steering replaces conventional multi-stage pointing system, which is also beneficial to the attitude control system of small satellites.

Development of 2W- and 4W-Class Ka-band (27 to 31 GHz) Packaged Power Amplifier, based on GaN European MMIC Technology, for Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT).

The project assessed the feasibility of high-aspect ratio (HAR) satellite designs, aimed at identifying possible use cases, advantages, and challenges. As part of the project, three HAR satellite designs have been conceptualised (SatCom, SAR, modular bus) and recommendations have been developed to further strengthen the industry in the uptake of this novel satellite concept. 

Enabling performance-based data routing for large constellations with inter-satellite links, not existing today.

The objective of the STRIVING cIU in-orbit validation/demonstration project was to gain flight heritage for the Beyond Gravity Finland Automotive/COTS component based Interface Electronics products.

FDSat project identifies potential use cases for single channel full-duplex operation in SatCom and evaluates its feasibility by means of analysis and simulations. Furthermore, technological gaps and promising techniques for developing and implementing the required self-interference cancellation needed to enable single channel full duplex communications over SatCom links are investigated. 

ESA awarded a contract to LS telcom for the provision of consulting and technical services to support ESA with various matters related to radio spectrum for satellite services. The core issues considered were those relating to WRC-23 Agenda Items, however, the scope of services extended beyond WRC-23 and included assisting ESA to investigate the implications of emerging uses of spectrum allocated to satellite services and the identification of any interference mitigation requirements needed to avoid harmful interference to services operating in satellite bands and thus protect existing, and support the emergence of future, satellite communications systems. 

ASTOS, a commercial software initially developed for ESA, evolved from trajectory optimization to a versatile tool for mission design, launch vehicle design, and more. The project seeks to enhance ASTOS with features for communication satellite and constellation design, catering to New Space demands for rapid cycles, user flexibility, and comprehensive coverage of user needs.

The objective of this activity is to comprehensively explore the application of generative AI within the SatCom industry. This includes understanding the current state-of-the-art in generative AI across various sectors and identifying how these tools and techniques can be adapted for SatCom applications.

The Multi-Voltage Power Processing Unit (MVPPU) concept is a modular PPU that can be tailored to operate different thruster technologies, and thrusters of different power ranges, by selecting its modules among a variety of building blocks developed by Airbus Crisa. This specific project scope is focused on Hall Effect Thruster technology application.

The objective of the activity is to develop and test an end-to-end system simulator that provides performance indicators which are key for the development of UAV satellite terminals with the target improvement of enabling key system tools for the development of UAV satellite terminals.

The project aims at reaching TRL8 for the CASTeC software as a service platform, which is an add-on functionality to Mission Control Software, implementing advanced telemetry checking in support to operations of satellites constellations. CASTeC provides early and context-based identification of anomalies in the behaviour of satellites, and identification of correlated events and telemetries, enabling fault isolation and mitigation strategies definition, supporting the troubleshooting operations. CASTeC also provides estimates of the Remaining Useful Life of the monitored satellite components.

The Airbus Italia Versatile Antenna Control Unit ( V-ACU) project was focused on the development, qualification and integration of a new antenna control unit capable to manage in house conceived tracking algorithms and free of any export control restriction.

“Demodulator supported by Artificial Neural Networks” aims to evaluate the benefit of an AI-enhanced demodulator compared to a traditional implementation. The main objectives are designing and testing an AI model for physical layer processing tasks, such as symbol soft de-mapping and channel decoding. The ultimate integration into an FPGA-based soft-GPU platform demonstrates the capabilities for onboard satellite applications.

Within the MOCA project AMOS develops a medium-size (1m-2m) optical communication antenna product for high-performance use cases. Its design, including adaptive optics technology, is optimized for optical communications and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The goal is to propose robust and cost-effective optical antennas for demanding links.

ANELOQC is an ambitious project that aims to develop an APD-TIA receiver for 1550 nm detection at data-rates of 2.5 Gb/s with a bit-error-rate of 10-6 at a state-of-the-art sensitivity of -43 dBm.

The TANNDEM project aims to design and test a demodulator supported by an artificial neural network (ANN). This demodulator will be part of current communication standards such as 5G, DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting), Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), and Internet of Things (IoT) for physical layer processing tasks: demodulation, de-mapping and channel decoding in satellite communication (Satcom) applications.

In this activity, a new class of RF components addressing future needs for ground segment network equipment in Q-, V-, and W-bands is developed. These components are produced monolithically using new Additive Manufacturing (AM) process with finer resolution to ensure lower insertion loss and better axial ratio (due to avoidance of assembly/alignment and interfaces) as well as lower production costs.

The R&S®CMX500 mobile radio tester from Rohde & Schwarz brings the satellite down to the lab. The instrument provides different user equipment (UE) testing capabilities that cover the entire 5G device development lifecycle - from design verification to conformance testing.

The LAND project aims to design, fabricate and test a large area 100 x 100 micrometer free space coupled superconducting nano-wire single-photon detector for quantum key distribution and photon starved optical communication applications.

EdgeSAT explores the applicability and implementation of edge networking concepts in satellite networks in order to identify and characterise the resulting opportunities for Satellite Network and Service providers as well as Satellite terminal manufacturers. As part of this mission, it specifies and validates a SatCom enabled edge node.

The general objective of the activity is to identify promising services in case wearables can communicate directly with communications satellites within the next 5 years. Five short-term Proof-of-Concepts are demonstrated with current satellite IoT systems. 
The activity shall stimulate the discussions around wearable satcom and – more in general - shall trigger a notion that satcom could be economically an option for the wearable market.