Sidus Space, a major player in the satellite industry, has announced a partnership with Lulav Space, a specialist in robotics for space applications, to develop advanced Event-based Star Trackers (EBST). The collaboration aims to explore and showcase the potential of EBST technology.
Sidus Space plans to incorporate the jointly developed EBST into its upcoming LizzieSat mission, which will be the fourth of its kind. The launch is scheduled for June next year and will be facilitated by SpaceX. This partnership is part of the Space Florida award under the Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership, which aims to stimulate innovation and economic growth.
The CEO of Sidus Space, Carol Craig, emphasized the importance of EBST technology for their operations. She explained that EBST can provide more accurate information on the orientation of satellites with high angular spin rates, such as their innovative, AI-driven, 3D-printed LizzieSat. This technology will be particularly valuable for their emerging LizzieSat constellation as they build their high-margin, recurring revenue, data-as-a-service business model.
“The collaboration between Sidus and Lulav aims to bridge a crucial knowledge gap in the development of EBST technology.”
Craig expressed excitement about working with Lulav on this valuable project.
Event-based cameras, which are integral to EBST, have gained a reputation for superior performance at high angular rates compared to traditional camera sensors. These cameras also have the advantage of being smaller, lighter, and requiring less power, making them ideal for space applications.
Star trackers are devices that capture and analyze star images to accurately determine a satellite’s orientation in space. Traditional star trackers use standard camera sensors and can only operate at low angular rates, limiting their performance and robustness.
Through this partnership, Lulav’s expertise in vision-based space applications will be combined with Sidus’ capabilities in satellite development, deployment, and operations. Together, they aim to develop and test the first commercial EBST in orbit. This innovative star tracker will be the first of its kind to incorporate an event-based camera, pushing the boundaries of satellite orientation technology.
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