Hemeria’s 12U spacecraft bus: ANGELS (ARGOS Neo on a Generic Economical and Light Satellite), a 25-kg nanosatellite developed jointly with the French space agency CNES, is a demonstrator of a French commercial solution carrying an Argos-Neo location and data collection instrument. This demonstrator features a number of systems from the Newspace Factory group: patch antennas from Anywaves, flight and ground software from CS Group, the power conditioning and distribution unit from EREMS and mechanical expertise from Mecano ID. Some of these systems are also on the EyeSat 3U nanosatellite.
With this launch, the Newspace Factory group is enhancing its credibility with entrepreneurs through systems geared towards series production for future satellite constellations.
Qualification of these systems and the nanosatellite bus in space constitutes a first step, as several SMEs in the group are already working on a constellation of 25 satellites for KINEIS, paving the way for a new French space industry to make its mark in the global NewSpace arena.
Firms and systems contributing to the mission:
ANYWAVES is a spin-off from CNES and the first European start-up to emerge as a pure play antenna supplier for NewSpace. With its S-band TTC antennas from ANYWAVES, ANGELS will send its first signal back to Earth and connect the nanosatellite to assure its successful operation for years to come. ANYWAVES’ ambition is to become the leader in small-form-factor antennas for NewSpace and critical systems.
For the ANGELS mission, CS GROUP has developed an innovative and economical ground control segment optimized for nanosatellites. Called CS NANO, this product is configurable and reusable for all types of nanosatellites and constellations. CS GROUP is also contributing its expertise to assist integration and operation of the software on ANGELS.
EREMS has designed and developed in partnership with CNES an innovative radiation-hardened power conditioning and distribution unit. Called PCDU NANO, this product is built around a modular architecture geared towards the needs of nanosatellites in the 6U-to-27U class. EREMS also developed the embedded software based on an innovative algorithm that optimizes distribution of power from solar panels and the battery. The first flight model will be on the ANGELS mission.
HEMERIA is an SME active in two areas with high stakes, space and French deterrence. The company is very actively involved in developing the future of space, in particular by developing an innovative nano-satellite sector. From development to final assembly, the ANGELS nano satellite was designed in the Toulouse premises of HEMERIA, with a co-located project team HEMERIA-CNES.
MECANO ID was responsible for mechanical and thermal engineering, as well as environmental testing of the satellite on behalf of HEMERIA, and for fabrication and environmental testing of the S-band antennas for ANYWAVES.