AIAD - Federazione Aziende Italiane per L'Aereospazio, la Difesa e la Sicurezza

PRODUCTS – SERVICES – APPLICATIONS – TECHNOLOGIES

Satellites & Missions

CONTRIBUTION TO IRIDE CONTELLATION

OHB Italia is developing 24 Eaglet II satellites (eight already in orbit) for the IRIDE Constellation, a flagship programme led by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the involvement of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Funded through an investment of over one billion euros, combining resources from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and national funds, IRIDE is conceived as a “constellation of six constellations.” It integrates satellites with different technologies and capabilities, complemented by ground-based operational infrastructures dedicated to the generation of high-value geospatial data.

The aim of deploying Italy’s most ambitious Earth Observation constellation — and one of the largest in Europe — is steadily becoming a reality.

OHB Italia is delivering a constellation of Eaglet II satellites, entirely designed and developed in-house, and integrated with their dedicated Flight Operations Segment (FOS), enabling control throughout the commissioning phase and nominal operations.

Eaglet II represents a new generation of small Earth Observation satellites, whose primary mission is to acquire high-resolution RGB images through an electro-optical instrument capable of transmitting X-band data to ground stations with low latency. In addition, each satellite collects and relays AIS (Automatic Identification System) messages for vessel tracking, providing persistent surveillance capabilities and resources for rapid, targeted responses.

OHB Italia is responsible for the satellite development, launch, in-orbit management, and operation of this dual-use space asset, which offers unprecedented persistent surveillance capabilities. The services generated by the constellation will support maritime and terrestrial surveillance, climate change monitoring, atmospheric studies, security, and emergency management.

COMET INTERCEPTOR

It is a new fast class ESA mission comprising three spacecrafts, with the target to visit a truly pristine comet or another interstellar object that has just begun its journey into the inner Solar System. It will offer a new insight into the evolution of comets as they migrate inwards from the periphery of the Solar System.

The mission comprises one main spacecraft and two small probes that will fly together towards a yet-to-be-discovered comet. The main spacecraft and the two probes will separate prior to arriving and intercepting the comet’s coma, each performing simultaneous measurements and offering the opportunity to proceed with science observations at multiple locations.

In addition, they will carry complimentary remote sensing and in-situ measurement payloads to investigate the comet’s nucleus, its outgassing and trailing materials and the plasma environment.

SATURN

SATURN (Synthetic Aperture radar cUbesat formation flyiNg) is an innovative ASI technology demonstration mission designed to demonstrate a new approach to radar observation from space.

SATURN aims to validate the concept of Cooperative Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) Swarms of SAR MicroSats, a breakthrough approach that replaces a single large radar satellite with a coordinated formation of smaller and simpler spacecraft.

The mission features a constellation of three 16U-class microsatellites, each equipped with a miniaturised Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. By combining and synchronising the signals from each node of the swarm, SATURN can achieve radar imaging performance comparable to much larger systems, with greater flexibility, lower cost, and enhanced revisit capability.

This distributed architecture allows the constellation to observe Earth’s surface regardless of daylight or cloud cover, offering rapid and reliable monitoring for a wide range of Earth Observation applications such as environmental monitoring, disaster management, infrastructure surveillance, and climate research.

SATURN represents a major step toward the next generation of cooperative small-satellite radar systems, paving the way for scalable, resilient and cost-effective solutions in Earth Observation.

The industrial team is led from OHB Italia as Prime Contractor, the subcontractors are Aresys,  On-Air, Airbus Italia.

RAMSES

This revolutionary ESA’s space safety program, following the HERA mission, will monitor and accompany asteroid 99942 Apophis during its close flyby of Earth on April 13, 2029, providing critical data for the protection of our Planet from potential future impacts.

OHB Italia, as Prime Contractor, is leading a core team including OHB System and GMV. The target is to develop an innovative probe to conduct detailed scientific analyses on the changes the asteroid undergoes due to Earth’s gravitational influence.

RAMSES will be equipped with an advanced suite of scientific instruments, including two CubeSats that will be deployed to collect close-up data, providing a comprehensive “before and after” perspective and contributing to the scientific understanding of asteroid dynamics.

GENESIS

Genesis is a unique observatory that will measure the Earth from space with millimetric detail. The satellite will use for the first time in space history the main geodetic technologies simultaneously to map our Planet.

Genesis will orbit at an altitude of 6.000 km combining the major geodetic technologies on the same platform aboard a satellite: Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI); Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver; Satellite Laser Ranging (SRL); all synchronized by an Ultra-Stable Oscillator (USO), a high-precision compact instrument used to provide a stable frequency.

The Genesis mission is part of the FutureNav programme approved by the ESA Council at ministerial level in November 2022 in Paris.

The objective of the mission is to contribute to an updated global Earth model, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), with an accuracy of 1 mm and a long-term stability of 0.1 mm/year. This state-of-the-art spatial geodetic observatory, will allow the distortions in each method to be identified and overcome. This improvement will have a major impact on multiple navigation and Earth science applications, including the Galileo navigation system and the ‘precise orbit determination’ of all other space missions.

Earth Observation Instruments

MWI (MicroWave Imager)

MicroWave Imager (MWI) for MetOp SG. It is a joint project of ESA and Eumetsat (EPS) that will make available in few years the most accurate weather forecasts ever had before. OHB Italia is responsible for the MWI instrument that will be on board of three satellites. MWI is a conically-scanning microwave radiometer that provides measurements of precipitation, observations of clouds, snow, sea ice coverage, water vapor, temperature and surface images.

CIMR (Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer)
It Is an Earth Observation programme co-funded by ESA and EU member states in the frame of the ‘High Priority Copernicus Missions’. ASI – Italian Space Agency – played a key role in financing the CIMR mission. OHB Italia is responsible, as subcontractor of Thales Alenia Space Italy, for the development and production of the CIMR instrument in relation to the two satellites. The CIMR instrument is a conical scan multi-frequency microwave radiometer featuring multi-beam architecture, the largest antenna of its kind, state-of-the-art advanced radio-frequency interference detection and blanking techniques. It will ensure global daily coverage with 6 hourly-revisit in Arctic areas, for high-spatial resolution observations of sea-surface temperature, sea-ice concentration, sea-surface salinity and a wide range of other sea-ice parameters, providing a fundamental contribution to climatology and environmental sustainability.

Space Situational Awareness / Space Surveillance & Tracking

FLYEYE
It is a telescope, developed for ESA-European Space Agency and funded by ASI-Agenzia Spaziale Italiana with a state-of-the-art optical sensor designed for Space Situational Awareness (SSA), combining a very wide Field of View (FoV), very high astronomical resolution and fast repositioning capabilities. It will be able to implement a NEO wide survey strategy, observing unknown dangerous asteroids rushing towards the Earth a week in advance. For Space Surveillance Tracking (SST), its survey observations allow to catalogue objects with a diameter of about 15 cm placed in orbit at an altitude of 1000 km (High LEO), with an accuracy of tens of meters on the orbit track. The first Flyeye has been fully assembled and tested in the factory and it will be shortly transferred to its observation site.

FLYEYE SST NETWORK

Four Flyeyes, financed through PNRR funds thanks to the ASI, will be the new space sentinels for the protection of the Space environment.

OHB Italia SpA will deliver the ground-based Telescopes dedicated to Space Surveillance & Tracking (SST) for space monitoring and security purposes. They will be installed in different geographical locations around the globe, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, allowing the reduction of collision risks among space assets and other operational spacecrafts or space debris. Each Flyeye telescope has a field of view of 45 square degrees and is equipped with 16 separate optical chambers mimicking the complex structure of a fly’s compound eye. They are capable of tracking space debris in HLEO (High “Low Earth Orbit” between 1,000 and 2,000 km) and in the MEO (“Medium Earth Orbit” between 2,000 and about 34,000 km) by providing the basic data and trajectories to identify potential hazards to orbital infrastructure and to manage any anti-collision maneuvers.

The Network of Flyeye Telescopes will be supplied with sophisticated software that will allow them to operate in synergy and will enable the creation of a catalogue of all orbiting objects, above a certain size threshold, in the HLEO/MEO orbital belt.

Equipment 

LLD for MWI Models
OHB Italia developed several Launch Locking Devices for MetOp-SG, MWI Inst., ICI Inst and also for the Separation Subsystem of Lares I and II, both developed for Italian Space Agency (ASI). They are four not standard Launch Locking Devices, the main structural load path for the Instrument Rotating Part (IRP) in locked configuration. The instrument mass to be locked weights at launch 160 kg, LLDs will release the IRP on orbit when each of them receives an electrical signal.

FAR-INFRARED OUTGOING RADIATION UNDERSTANDING AND MONITORING (FORUM)

The Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) ESA’s nineth Earth Explorer Mission will measure across Earth’s entire far-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Measurements from this exciting new mission will improve confidence in the accuracy of the climate change assessments that form the basis for the future policy decisions.

OHB Italia, under contract with OHB System AG, is responsible for the design, manufacturing and testing of the FORUM ICU, connection node between the sensor and the flight computer.

Scientific and Planetary Instruments

ISRU 
ISRU Demonstrator Payload is aimed for the extraction of oxygen from lunar regolith on lunar surface. The experiments were conducted by OHB Italia as Prime Contractor and the Politecnico di Milano in the frame of the In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) Demonstration Mission, a program of and funded by ESA, the European Space Agency, with the strong support of ASI, the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana. The system powered with sand simulating polar lunar soil, produced the expected amount of water, extracting oxygen from the oxides present in the minerals of lunar surface. The thin layer of dusty sand that covers the Moon contains minerals that are also found on Earth, allowing the use of chemical transformation processes known from terrestrial industrial applications. The ability to produce water in-situ and therefore oxygen and hydrogen, is a key step for future Moon’s human missions, as these are fundamental elements for sustaining the life for extended periods. This production capability also frees future lunar bases from the use of open-loop systems that require continuous refuelling from Earth, simplifying logistics and reducing the costs of transporting materials.

LISA MISSION

LISA is one of the large-class missions under ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. It will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to studying gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time emitted during the most powerful events in the Universe, such as pairs of black holes coming together and merging, just to investigate the entire history of the Universe using similar waves.

OHB Italia, on behalf of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), will be the industrial architect responsible of the so-called GRS, Gravitational Reference System, which is the “golden heart” of the mission. Th GRS purpose is to ensure that a 2kg Gold-Platinum cubical mass can be released as a free-falling object in Space, undisturbed by any possible external influence, and very precisely controlled in its behaviour, in order to identify the influence of gravitational waves down to sub-Hertz frequencies, a bandwidth previously impossible to study using any ground interferometric experiment.