Projects

OPTIMUS develops a modular testbed to enable secure and interoperable optical ground station (OGS) network operations. Covered activities include automated pass scheduling, data delivery workflows, and real-time system monitoring to support seamless coordination across operators and service providers for future optical communication infrastructures.

Today, CubeSats can be considered mature and low-cost platforms for providing commercial telecommunication services. To allow building flexible telecommunication services and systems, this activity develops a modular active phased array antennas ready to be accommodated on CubeSats with different form factors.

Exploring spin-in opportunities in key industry sectors to define development potentials that can benefit the satellite communications sector.

Development of a high performing Q/V Band Direct Quadrature Demodulator RFIC with an initial study of potential demodulator architectures, to be used in a digital beamforming application for future Q/V feeder links operating in the 47.2-52.4 GHz band with the following design implementation, fabrication and validation.

The program aims to demonstrate direct 5G broadband access from LEO to small aperture terminals by implementing 3GPP Non-terrestrial Networks (NTN) specifications. The mission includes a feasibility study for 5G broadband via SmallSats, and an in-orbit demonstration of a 12U CubeSat to validate high-throughput, bidirectional K/Ka band connectivity over rural and suburban scenarios

Satellite signal processing using an off-the-shelf AI chipset project is to develop and validate AI-based signal processing techniques for satellite telecommunications such as signal identification, spectrum monitoring, spectrum sharing, and signal demodulation using Off-theShelf AI accelerators.

Optical feeder links of satellite constellation networks offer very high data rates and do not require frequency coordination, but can be affected by frequent disruptions due to cloud blockages. This project investigates, designs and demonstrates optical feeder link site-diversity mechanisms for satellite constellation networks to achieve the availability required for telecommunications services.

The AutoMAIT project develops automated micro-optic attachment processes for photonic integrated circuits for satellite applications. It focuses on enhancing assembly reliability, optical coupling efficiency, and environmental resilience to support high-volume manufacturing for the NGSO market and MBRYONICS' product lines.

5g NTN g-NodeB (gNB) in the sky: first step to extend global network system in the space.

The proposed activity is the development and validation of a 160W Ka-band (27.5 - 31GHz) (Solid State Power Amplifier) SSPA with a European packaged 30W high-power amplifier (HPA) microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) targeting the need for professional up-link station of geostationary satellites and satellites constellations.

The role of the product in the context of the overall system/service of its target users is to provide a high power SSPA adapted to the future ground stations for satellites constellations.

The target for the packaged 30W HPA is, in addition to ground stations, to address the need for lower power user terminals.

The Software Defined Drive Electronics unit, called CODE+, is the successor to Beyond Gravity Austria’s (BGA) Core Drive Electronics (CODE). CODE+ is upgraded with a microcontroller to allow micro-stepping, optional 3-phase motor driving, signal processing and a digital control interface for enhanced motor control.

Tech2CONNECT, led by CONNECTED, aims to develop a comprehensive IoT narrowband connectivity solution from space. Defining service elements and its configurations, and regulatory compliance in its Definition Phase, the Technology Phase focuses on refining and testing the space and network segments, including an Engineering Model of the payload and the initial implementation of the 5G NB-IoT NTN protocol stack.

The NGHT SmallSAT – Ground Direct to Earth (DTE) Laser Communication project develops a compact, low-cost, DTE laser communications system capable of providing up to 10 Gbps to meet the increasing demand for secure, high-data rate communications systems.

The objective of the project is to develop a compact magneto-optical trap, which can be used as a prototype for a quantum memory based on cold atomic gas for space applications. In the development, special attention is paid to the miniaturisation of the magneto-optical trap to reduce the size, weight and power consumption of the later quantum memory.

The Internet of Things (IoT) requires global coverage, which will only be possible to achieve via Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs). Release 17 onward of the 3GPP® specifications include NTN capabilities, with manufacturers of NTN IoT products needing a laboratory based test-bench to test NTN Narrowband (NB)-IoT devices in a simulated space environment. Additionally, satellite network operators need the capability to evaluate system operation long before any satellites are in orbit.

The MARitime LEO Insight Network (MARLIN) uses low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and 5G cellular technologies to monitor fishing activity in near-real time. Fishing alerts (e.g., fishing events and bycatch incidents) are transmitted to a cloud-based management dashboard via LEO satellite during operations at sea, with high-resolution video and audio data captured on-vessel and transmitted via 5G upon the vessel’s return to port.

The capabilities of autoencoders are well known and space researchers and enthusiasts have developed multiple systems that improve the performance of the state-of-the-art compressor for space applications, limiting the bandwidth usage and consequently reducing costs.

In the framework of this activity, IngeniArs improves the useful data-rate by optimising the data to be transmitted via Variation Autoencoder AI models.

Such models can reduce the amount of data to transfer, encoding the information into a set of points within the AI model latent space. These points are then restored into the original information (the compression is lossy).

To validate these models, different use-cases (telecommunication, video stream, image transmission) are tested by highlighting how these AI models can enhance both transmission (upstream) and reception (downstream) systems.

Finally, for the upstream segment, a feasibility study related to porting the developed models into GPU@SAT, a space-grade AI accelerator developed by IngeniArs, is conducted.

Ka-band TX and RX beamforming module for low-cost Satcom-On-The-Move (SOTM) earth terminals.

An advanced collision avoidance service, especially targeting the LEO market and mega constellations, the project leverages the current commercial solution, Focusoc, aiming to add and merge information from different data suppliers to provide a fast and reliable response to final operators.