acceleration of space exploration

FP Space is a consortium of three Silesian enterprises – Future Processing, leader of the It market, FP Instruments (supplier of advanced solutions in the field of design of electronic systems) and KP Labs, which creates volatile software, expert on the Big Data market and machine learning. the objective of the consortium is to support the space sector by providing services in the field of developing high-quality software and hardware.

our mission is to accelerate the exploration of outer space through the development of autonomic space probes and robot technologies. that is why we sketched a clear vision of development which should lead us within the next 10 years to a place where we will become an integrator and operator of constellations of small satellites based on our own satellite platform. In particular, we will concentrate on such elements of a satellite as an on-board computer, a highly efficient computer for processing data in orbit, control of spatial orientation of satellites, power system and laser communication. We will develop our competence, also in mission planning, control and simulation. We are currently carrying out the Intuition-1 mission, which is aimed at the observation of the earth and provision of high-quality satellite photographs which will allow FP to develop business in the field of remote sensing. The first satellite is CubeSat 6U which will have a shape of a cuboid with a size of 10×22×36 cm and a weight of approx. 12 kg. For the needs of the mission we will create a highly efficient computer for processing data in orbit (OBDH – on Board Data Handling), a hyperspectral camera with spectral resolution of 150 channels in the visible and near-infrared range (vnIr), as well as segmentation and classification algorithms based on deep convolutional networks. The Intuition-1 satellite will get to the low Earth orbit (LEO); the launch is planned for 2022. The authors of the project form an interdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists who actively participate in the development of a Polish space sector.

We know in FP how important it is to develop personnel and education sector, which is why we actively support the PW-Sat2 project. It is aimed at the construction of an

artificial satellite type CubeSat 2U for the purpose of testing the innovative deorbitation system in the form of a sail with a surface of 4 sq m, and checking the system of opening solar panels, Sun sensor and power system. the project is conducted by members of the Students’ Space association at the Faculty of Power and aeronautical engineering of the Warsaw university of technology. FP Space supports the project by providing software and hardware solutions, and in spring 2016 we funded an on-board computer, which made it possible to move on to the next stage of the project. PW-Sat2 is in the shape of a cuboid with a size of 10×10×22 cm and it contains a square deorbitation sail with a surface of 4 sq m, which can be folded to a volume of 270 ml (that is ¼ of the whole satellite). as part of the mission, the sail should be opened after about 40 days of launching the satellite into orbit. this action will increase the aerodynamic resistance and cause drastic lowering of the orbit and, in consequence, burning of the satellite in the earth’s atmosphere within a few months.

the work of the whole satellite will be controlled by an on-board computer powered with a system designed for this purpose. two cameras will register the opening of the sail and amateur radio operators from all over the world will be able to receive radio signals broadcast from the communication system.

the PW-Sat2 satellite will be put into sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of approx. 575 km, and will be launched on board the Falcon 9 rocket by the SpaceX company in the third quarter of 2018.

Karolina Trzcionka IT sector specialist, team leader in Future Processing, Polish offshore software development service provider