After a successful liftoff on December 21st, 2021, performed from Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral and a smooth orbit insertion, SATLANTIS’ optical payload iSIM-90 is flying to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS-24 cargo spacecraft integrated in the CASPR experiment mission.
The CASPR experiment was designed and built between SATLANTIS, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Florida as members of the SHREC – the Centre for Space, High-performance, Resilient Computing – of the National Science Foundation. CASPR takes part on the STP-H7 – “Space Test Program – Houston 7” of the United States Department of Defence (DoD), managed by NASA.
This SATLANTIS IOD mission aims at demonstrating and validating in Space i-SIM-90’s innovative features and applications:
- Ultra-High Pixel (UHP) – proprietary techniques that can improve the native resolution of the imager by a factor of 2-3.
- Multispectral Bands (RGB & NIR) the imager’s spatial resolution is not degraded proportionally to the number of bands.
- Agility – iSIM-90 can take images while the satellite is observing along and across its orbit.
These innovations, together with iSIM-90’s miniaturized size and weight, can offer a variety of applications for land, urban and water areas, ranging from infrastructure to environmental monitoring, onboard CubeSats platforms.
In the coming days, first the docking to the International Space Station (ISS) will take place and then, on January 8th, the robotic arm of the ISS will install the STP-H7 platform that hosts iSIM-90 in the European laboratory of the ISS, where it will remain operating for at least one year.
The operations of the instrument, expected to start in mid-February, will be conducted in collaboration with the SHREC Team, and will include a commissioning phase to release the protective active mechanisms onboard and calibrate the instrument.
CEO Juan Tomás Hernani
CTO Rafael Guzmán
About SATLANTIS
SATLANTIS is a Spanish technological SME specialized in developing very high-resolution Earth Observation optical payloads for small satellites. It is built upon an expertise in the areas of Astrophysics, Space Engineering, and Business.
The company headquarters are located in Bilbao, Spain, within the University of the Basque Country Science Park, and SATLANTIS LLC is based within the Innovation Hub, at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Courtesy of SATLANTIS
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