GomSpace Group AB (publ)

GomSpace Group AB is a global developer of satellite solutions. The company serves the communication, internet of things, defense and security, academic and science mission industries. The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden and was founded by Lars Alminde in 2007.

GomSpace has been developing and demonstrating space-based aircraft monitoring through investments in the GOMX-1 and GOMX-3 missions. Depending on the need for coverage and revisit time, the company delivers constellations of nanosatellites to meet customers' needs based on GomSpace's advanced communication systems and satellite platforms.

GomSpace's global tracking solutions have been applied in:

• Aerial and maritime in equatorial tracking constellation

• AISTECH

• Live flight tracking with Flightradar24

While global tracking provides one-way communication for tracking assets, Internet of Things (IoT) provides full two-way capability to allow applications, including:

• Smart metering

• Remote management of assets

• Herd tracking

• Fleet management

GomSpace specializes in nanosatellite communications technology and provides tailored solutions to customers looking to implement IoT. The solutions are based on GomSpace's RF and signal processing methodology:

• From HF to Ka-band

• From simple monopole antennas to complex patch arrays

• Low-power front-end electronics

• Software Defined Radio

• Complex signal processing

Together with the space segment system, GomSpace helps with the design and production of corresponding ground terminals for the particular IoT solution.

GomSpace also specializes in nanosatellite communications technology, offering tailored solutions to clients looking to implement communication solutions. Similarly to the IoT offering, these solutions are based on GomSpace's RF and signal processing methodology:

The communications systems are implemented into GomSpace's platform technology including advanced features such as:

• Power generation and distribution to support demanding radio payloads

• Inter-satellite link capabilities

• Station keeping capabilities

The image below shows a spectrum recorded by the GOMX-3 mission using its SDR payload in the L-band while actively tracking a geostationary satellite transmitting in this band.

GomSpace provides military, intelligence and security solutions for government customers, built on tested platforms and architectures, including:

• Tracking

• Internet of Things

• Communications

• Remote Sensing

GomSpace adapts solutions to specific requirements for the system and project implementation, offering discretion, data encryption and other cybersecurity measures, implementing additional resilience (ECCM) into the solutions, and integration of new space-based capabilities into existing C4ISR infrastructures.

GomSpace's intelligence and security solutions were applied in:

• Ulloriaq Arctic Surveillance project for the Danish Defence

• HawkEye360: Advanced payload for electronic information gathering

GomSpace also provides a range of radio communication solutions for nanosatellites for telemetry, satellite control, and payload data.

GomSpace developed the Cubesat Space Protocol (CSP) to be the internal satellite bus protocol. It can be used in radio devices as a “router” that connects physical CSP networks. The GomSpace Hardware Platform also supports the distributed architecture. The distributed architecture is characterized by:

• Autonomous nodes

• All nodes can be operated and controlled from the Ground Station

• All nodes can communicate with each other

• Plug-and-Play design philosophy, enabled by CSP

GomSpace also specializes in attitude and orbit control system design for nanosatellites. The company can supply the following ADCS subsystems for nanosatellites:

• Magnetorquer

• Magnetometer

• GPS

• Reaction wheel

• Coarse sun sensor

• Fine sun sensor

GomSpace's ground station setup is a system consisting of three main parts:

• NanoCom AS100 antenna tower and rotor

• NanoCom GS100 dual radio setup, which ensures top performance reception independent of satellite transmission polarity

• MS100, which runs the mission server and allows direct access for operators via Ethernet

The GS100 and MS100 elements can be integrated into a 19" rack while the AS100 element is installed outdoors. Mission-specific ground station and mission control code can be implemented on the MS100 server using the Linux SDK and GSWEB products.

GomSpace provides a range of structures for nanosatellites, namely the 16U, 12U, 8U, 6U Standard, Premium, and Professional, and 3U platforms. The 6U structure can be scaled to larger structures if required.

The GomSpace standard platforms feature a generic design to enable straightforward integration of third-party payloads and subsystems. All platforms are designed and qualified for 5 years of an operational lifetime for a typical Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mission.

The GomSpace mission platforms range from small CubeSats, mainly used for technology demonstration projects, to large commercial platforms, that provide reliable in-orbit data to support the customer’s operational requirements.

HOOP is a satellite operations platform that applies the principles of Lights-Out manufacturing to automate satellite operations end-to-end. It supports all mission phases (pre-ops, LEOP, Operations and Decommissioning).

The RACE, Rendezvous Autonomous CubeSats Experiment, is ESA’s in-orbit demonstration CubeSat mission. The two satellites are launched together in Low Earth Orbit. After the initial commissioning phase, the spacecraft was to perform the rendezvous and docking (RVD) and the close fly around (CFA) experiments in order to achieve the mission objectives.

The RACE platform is based on the standard GomSpace 6U CubeSat platform. The platform has in-orbit heritage since February 2018 (GOMX-4A & GOMX-4B). The platform design drivers include:

• High level of modularity

• Flight-proven technology for ADCS, power generation and management, C&DH and communications

• Large use of COTS components.

Juventas, a 6U nanosatellite built for ESA’s Hera mission, had been given the objective to perform the first radar measurements of an asteroid. The radar signals can penetrate through the body of the asteroid and provide insight into its internal structure. Juventas is also able to measure the surface and dynamical properties of the asteroid. Payloads include:

• Monostatic low-frequency radar to gain insight into the asteroid interior

• Gravimeter for surface local gravity measurements

• Radio science enabled by ISL link

• Visible camera providing context imagery

GOMX-4 is a research and development mission by GomSpace. It includes 2 satellites and 3 partners: The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO), the Technical University of Denmark, and the European Space Agency (ESA).

DALO sponsored GOMX-4A with the expectation that the mission will provide them with their first satellite intended to contribute to surveillance of the Arctic. The satellite has been named ”Ulloriaq” after the word "star” in the Greenlandic language.

"Ulloriaq" has been launched together with an ESA satellite, named GOMX-4B. GOMX-4B's mission is to demonstrate inter-satellite linking and station keeping capabilities, which are key enabling technologies for nanosatellite constellations.