ESA title
GOMX-5
Enabling & Support

GOMX-5

70 views 1 likes
ESA / Enabling & Support / Space Engineering & Technology / Technology CubeSats

The mission

The GOMX-5 mission is an 8U CubeSat aimed at performing a demo of Maritime Situational Awareness payload (RF observations). It also targets the flight qualification of new GOMSpace platform product and the provision of a flight software testbed (on-orbit software lab). Lastly, it will be a demo of ESA Zero Debris policy compliance via electric propulsion de-orbiting.

Platform: 8U CubeSat with 3-axis pointing and electric propulsion.
Payload: Software-defined radio in multiple RF bands.
Programme: General Support Technology Programme (GSTP).
Contractor: GOMSpace Denmark & Luxembourg. 

Mission description

GOMX-5 is an IOD mission developed by GOMSpace aimed at: 

  • Flight Qualification of a new off the shelf CubeSat platform with new standard components.
  • Flight Qualification of a reference maritime domain awareness payload.
  • Continuous operational feedback, learning and improvement on orbit.
  • Implement the “ESA Zero Debris” requirements for the mission 

The new platform uses an 8U form factor for the mission, which offers high pointing knowledge and accuracy from the new AOCS subsystem with reaction wheels and star tracker; enhanced power generation from a deployable steerable solar array; and increased downlink data rates using an X-band transmitter. An on-board electric propulsion subsystem is included in order to demonstrate orbital manoeuvres relevant for end-of-life disposal as required by ESA’s new space debris mitigation standard. The maritime domain awareness payload is based on software-defined radio coupled with multiple antennas in order to acquire signals in multiple bands relevant for future commercial constellations. The on-board software is fully configurable and updatable in order to use the CubeSat as an in-orbit testbed for software experiments both during the IOD mission in Sun Synchronous Orbit, and for several years following the IOD mission completion. 

Mission status

Launch: Q3 2026 to SSO 500km.
Status: funding for delta-Phase B to Phase F confirmed, delta-Phase B KO in November 2024, delta-PDR in Feb 2025.