What orbits are your missions most focused on?
Small satellite missions are usually launched into LEO orbits at altitudes of between 400 and 650 km. That is also the case of our missions to date. These altitudes offer a better protection from solar and cosmic radiation for our satellites and allow to provide better services for some applications, such as telecommunications and Earth observation.
In your opinion, what do you think are the greatest pain points or typical mistakes made in relation to radiation shielding?
One of the greatest is that we mainly work with COTS components. Unlike the space-grade components for which we can get precise information about their behaviour in terms of radiation, manufacturers of COTS do not provide such information, as they do not have it. In this way, it is not easy to calculate the shielding we need and we must rely on estimations and previous experience.
Another pain point is that we have to reserve an important amount of mass and volume for the shielding. In the case of nanosatellites that is a great price to pay.
Which project are you most proud of? Why is it important?
Our team is proud of our participation in the Xatcobeo mission. It was launched back in 2012 and successfully operated for two and a half years. That was the first step of all the following missions. A great success for all of us, for the University of Vigo and even for Spain, because it became the first Spanish nanosatellite in Space.
Due to the Xatcobeo mission, we had the opportunity to collaborate with institutions, companies and agencies around the world as well as being considered pioneers in the Spanish New Space industry.
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