Smart on-board processing for earth observation systems

The number of satellites being launched into orbit is increasing rapidly every year, and with it the complexity anThe number of satellites being launched into orbit is increasing rapidly every year, and with it the complexity and capabilities of each satellite continues to grow dramatically.

Today, near full earth coverage by optical sensors is achieved daily by civilian spacecraft, and soon civilian SAR will achieve a similar daily coverage.

The ever growing amount of spaceborne data will need new solutions to get that data to the ground, because the available downlink is always a limitation in space system design.

Better on-board data processing and storage will allow future iterations of spacecraft to achieve higher performance in smaller and smaller packages.

Current solutions present limitations in computational performance, memory capacity and performance, and data reliability in very small form factors.

SOPHOS will design and implement enabling technology for high-end data products produced on-board spacecraft via the implementation of more power efficient high performance space processing chains for various Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, with a focus on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is one of the most data intensive space applications currently used.

This implementation will be achieved through the optimisation of the payload processing and data storage system accompanied by the use of COTS components and the miniaturisation of high-performance hardware in combination with robust firmware and software with heritage in high-end space applications.

SOPHOS will combine state-of-the-art industrial computing technologies (COTS) including high-end FPGAs and GPU equipped SoCs, along with advanced and scalable processing capabilities.

The modules developed within SOPHOS will allow for higher data product performance in small and nanosatellite platforms, with the ability to deliver more data from data-intensive applications including SAR earth observation.