Centre of Excellence Space-SI

Space sciences and technologies are in the process of revolutionary transition which is especially strong in the area of micro and nano satellite technologies where drastic reduction of development, launching and exploitation costs has been achieved by radical miniaturisation of integrated subsystems and relatively cheap Commercial-of-the-Shelf Components (COTS). Due to these fundamental changes space is no longer reserved only to large RTD players from economically powerful nations.

The consortium of eleven partners (academic institutions, high-tech SMEs and large industrial and insurance companies; see panel above) gathered within The Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies (CE Space-SI) has recognised high potentials of newly emerging technologies and applications. 46 researchers and engineers joined forces in the following areas: MEMS based micropropulsion; functional graded materials for small satellites; integrated structural design and thermal management; attitude control, scientific payloads; communications and ground station operation; virtual modelling and optimisation of subsystems; remote sensing, meteorology, astrophysics, data and image processing.

CE Space-SI enabled Slovenia to efficiently join international state-of-the-art in space RTD. This effort was strongly supported within the CE Space-SI by the network of strategic EU partners from Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands, UK and Austria who ensured RTD access to the most advanced space missions including PRISMA, LAPAN-TUBSAT, VENUS and GAIA. Connections were established also with some non-European space-oriented countries (Dubai, Nigeria, Thailand).

CE Space-SI strongly supported Slovenia in the process of joining ESA and helped to reduce the long lasting gap between space RTD levels in Europe and Slovenia which ranks very low in these investments even amongst newly associated states.

Read more on the homepage of CE Space-SI ....

Automatic Optical Satellite Data Processing Chain, Microsatellite

Within the CE Space-SI, ZRC SAZU was represented by the Department of Remote Sensing, with Assoc. Prof. Krištof Oštir, PhD being the head of the remote sensing operations. Within the framework of the CE Space-SI we have developed and implemented a complete fully automatic optical satellite data processing chain. The processing chain performs all necessary processing steps from sensor-corrected (Level 1) optical satellite image up to web-delivered map-ready products.

Apart from that we were extensively engaged also in the specification and development of the high-resolution microsatellite for Earth monitoring and observation, developed in collaboration with the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies.