Upstream partners have been invited at the TU-Delft campus the 29th May to discuss the technological feasibility of the concepts investigated by TUD. The list includes TNO, Metasensing, Lionix, Airbus and ISIS (Innovative Solutions In Space). The meeting started by introducing the ‘dream’ concepts and the work done by the different TUD faculty groups through 4 short presentations:
- Lorenzo Iannini from CiTG outlined the swarmSAR concept and the challenges in terms of AOCS, power and downlink capacity
- Peter Hoogeboom from CiTG outlined the HIRSAL (HIgh Resolution Swath ALtimeter) MIMO altimetry concept highlighting its orbit and platform requirements
- Ozan Dogan from EWI presented the SAR image formation algorithm for multistatic constellations, showing how the performance depends on baselines and beamwidth
- Alden Yellowhorse from presented the antenna folding mechanisms, with an origami background in mind. It was shown that in terms of vulnerability for deployment in space, the antenna concepts can also be judged by the number of surfaces, creases, hinges, etc.
In its second part, the meeting aimed at receiving from the experts green, yellow or red light by the experts on the technology requirements covering:
- Formation separation, orbit and pointing parameters (AOCS).
- Power requirements, gross and radiated, duty cycle
- Data downlink
- Payload characteristics, size, shape, antenna deployment, vibration
This initiative can be regarded as the first concurrent effort towards a more practical concept consolidation work to be finalized within 2020.