KP Labs cubesat
Image source: FP Space
The Polish space industry startup KP Labs has chosen Glasgow-based cubesat manufacturer Clyde Space to act as subcontractor for the company's Intuition-1 satellite project. The 6U-class cubesat will be the world's first commercial satellite to contain enough processing power to carry out hyperspectral imagery segmentation in orbit.
KP Labs, based in Gliwice, southern Poland, says Intuition-1 will perform observation of the Earth using a hyperspectral instrument and advanced data processing based on neural networks that will be onboard the satellite. The company says this will allow the cubesat to assess the condition of plants and forests, forecast crop yield, or create pollution maps for cities.
“We selected Clyde Space as a subcontractor to build a satellite platform and organise Intuition-1’s launch. Recently signed contract covers these services,” Grzegorz Łada, a project manager at KP Labs, said in an interview with SpaceNews.
“The project is scheduled to be implemented between January 2018 and December 2023. Currently, we are in the process of research and development which will continue until the end of 2019. Between 2020 and 2021, the satellite will be integrated, and in early 2022, we will perform qualification tests. The launch, which will put the satellite into the 600-kilometer low Earth orbit, is planned for the period between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The basic mission of the satellite will start in 2023,” Łada said.
The details of the contract have not been disclosed but the value exceeds £500,000 (€582,000). As part of the deal, Clyde Space will develop the onboard computer system, satellite bus, communications system, altitude control system and electrical power system. The Scottish company will also be responsible for the launch preparations.
KP Labs will be responsible for developing the satellite as part of the HyperCam project which receives some of its financing from Poland's National Centre for Research and Development. The state-run institution distributes European Union funds to innovative projects in numerous sectors, including the space industry. The project is worth about 19.3 million zloty (€5.4 million), of which the NCBR is to cover more than 13.9 million zloty (€3.25 million), according to data from the institution.
Clyde Space is owned by Sweden’s ÅAC Microtec, a satellite platform supplier whose customers include Airbus, Raytheon, Thales Alenia Space, the European Space Agency, NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, among others.
Clyde Space has also announced that it is partnering with machine-to-machine satellite operator Orbcomm to build and launch two Automatic Identification System-enabled cubesats in 2020 under a project worth nearly $6 million over five years.
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