Greek CubeSats ready for assembly
It's been just over one year since ESA placed contracts for seven Greek CubeSat missions, which aim to enhance Greece's space capabilities while providing practical benefits to citizens. These CubeSats, developed by small and medium-sized companies and universities across Greece, underscore the nation's expanding space industry and its commitment to advancing space applications, such as secure optical and radio frequency (RF) connectivity, IoT communications, earth observation and RF spectrum monitoring. The missions are a collaboration of scientists, engineers and space industry partners from across Greece.
Significant progress has been made in the development of these CubeSats, as they transition from the design phase to assembly and integration. The projects have either completed or are in the final stages of their critical design phase. The satellites will soon be built and subsequently undergo rigorous testing to prepare for launch in 2025. This stage is crucial in ensuring the satellites can withstand the harsh conditions of space and perform their intended functions reliably.
In March 2019, ESA and the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance launched the Greek National Satellite Space Project as part of the nation’s EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Facility. This initiative aims to develop, produce and launch small, versatile satellites for connectivity and other space-based services, enabling the digital transformation of society while creating jobs and generating prosperity.
Seven missions gearing up for launch
Set to launch in 2025, these seven missions encompass a variety of services crucial for modern space applications:
- PHASMA: Led by the Libre Space Foundation, two 3U CubeSats focusing on radio frequency signal detection and monitoring for space situational awareness.
- OptiSat: Led by Planetek Hellas, a 6U CubeSat for secure optical communication and space-based data processing, including automated cloud coverage assessment.
- PeakSat: Led by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a 3U CubeSat demonstrating laser-optical links with ground stations in Greece.
- MICE-1: Led by Prisma Electronics SA, a 3U CubeSat enhancing maritime tracking in the Mediterranean Sea through Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal reception and IoT communication.
- DUTHSat-2: Led by Democritus University of Thrace, a 6U CubeSat capturing visible and near-infrared imagery for oil spill detection and soil moisture monitoring.
- ERMIS: Led by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, a constellation of three CubeSats (two 6U and one 8U) for IoT applications, inter-satellite communications, hyperspectral imaging for precision agriculture and optical communications.
- Hellenic Space Dawn: Led by EM Tech, two 8U CubeSats, Helios and Selene, supporting the validation of in-space data processing hardware, Earth observation and demonstrating inter-satellite links and secure optical communications.
From enhancing maritime safety and agricultural practices to demonstrating cutting-edge communication technologies, these projects align with ESA's goals of promoting European innovation in the space sector.
ESA hosts Greek CubeSat assembly, integration and testing workshop at ESTEC
To further support the CubeSat missions, ESA organised a workshop in August at its ESTEC facility in the Netherlands. The two-day event focused on the assembly, integration, and testing (AIT) of the satellites, bringing together 30 participants from the organisations involved in the missions.
ESA experts shared insights and lessons learned from previous CubeSat projects, covering environmental testing, system-level functional testing, AIT best practices and quality assurance. Participants also toured ESA's Mechanical Systems Laboratory at ESTEC, gaining first-hand experience with state-of-the-art testing and integration infrastructure.
This workshop is part of ESA's ongoing support for the Greek space sector, aimed at ensuring the success of these CubeSat missions and fostering the growth of Greece's space industry capabilities.
"These CubeSat projects exemplify the innovative spirit and technical strength of Greece's space sector. ESA is proud to support this journey, which will not only benefit Greece but also contribute significantly to Europe's space capabilities,” said Frederic Rouesnel, Greek Connectivity RRF Project Manager at ESA.
"The Ministry of Digital Governance, via the secretariat of Telecommunications and Post and the Hellenic Space Center, is closely monitoring, supporting and facilitating all missions to alleviate implementation challenges that arise during the manufacturing, testing and launching of Greek CubeSats. This pivotal activity for the development of the national space industry is being conducted at an unprecedented scale in Greece," said Prof. K. Karantzalos, Secretary General of Telecommunications & Post at the Ministry of Digital Governance.
"The Greek CubeSat In-Orbit Validation (IOV) programme focuses on augmenting the technical competence of Greek space industry and academia on designing, building, launching and operating end-to-end satellite systems. The primary focus of the programme is on secure connectivity applications (optical and RF), while Earth observation applications are also within scope. This underlines the wide reach of the activity to the Greek space ecosystem, thus enhancing the interdisciplinary expertise of Greek engineers in space applications and technologies," said Dimitrios Christopoulos, Scientific Officer at the Hellenic Space Center.
