IMAGING

 

Iran prepares first Chabahar space launch

Iran plan to launch three Earth-observation satellites and carry out the first test launch from its new Chabahar space center, signaling a further expansion of its space program amid Western concerns over the dual-use nature of Iranian rocket technology. The Zafar-2, Paya and the second batch of Kosar imaging satellites are ready for launch.

The first experimental launch from the Chabahar Space Center – a coastal site under development in Iran’s southeast – will take place next year. Iran had also signed its first private-sector contracts for satellite constellations, including the narrow-band Kosar system intended for emergency data transfer, and highlighted recent milestones such as the launch of private-built satellites on a Russian rocket, the successful 2023 flight of the solid-fuel Sorayya launcher, and the deployment of the Nahid-2 communications satellite in 2025. www.iranintl.com

Inflatable module tech in space factory race

China’s “in-orbit factory” has taken shape following a technological breakthrough in the form of an inflatable, reconfigurable space module, as it joins the United States and other countries to build large-scale industrial production lines in orbit.

According to the developers, components of this smart morphing framework can be compactly folded during launch and inflated and unfolded once in orbit to form a vast, stable operational habitat, each a building block to create a manufacturing plant in space.

The advancement was recently detailed by the Institute of Mechanics, an affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). \

According to a statement issued by the Beijing based institute on November 3, it recently tested a key module of the space factory – known as the “reconfigurable flexible in-orbit manufacturing platform” – in collaboration with several other domestic research bodies.

The team tested the airtight connection between rigid structures and the flexible habitat, as well as the controlled deployment and stability of the environment for high precision manufacturing tasks – all of which are key technical hurdles and requirements for an inflatable space factory.

Ground tests showed that the module’s performance met, or even exceeded, requirements. The team also obtained crucial parameters, such as the critical pressure and gas consumption required for full deployment, during vacuum testing under simulated conditions in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

It represents a significant step towards space manufacturing by overcoming the limitations of rocket cargo compartment size and cutting the cost of building large orbital objects. www.scmp.com

Space42 completes first ApusNeo18 HAPS test flight in the UAE

Mira Aerospace, the High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) subsidiary of Space42, the UAE-based AI-powered SpaceTech company, announced the successful completion of the first public test flight of its advanced, solar-powered HAPS model, ApusNeo18. The aircraft carried an advanced Earth Observation payload developed in house by Mira Aerospace, combining high resolution optical and infrared sensors with real-time data transmission. space42.ai

More GHGSat monitoring microsats by SFL

SFL Missions has been awarded a contract by GHGSat of Montreal to develop two additional commercial microsatellites for the GHGSat greenhouse gas monitoring constellation.

GHGSat-C18 and -C19 are being built, integrated, and tested at the SFL Missions facility in Toronto where 37 satellites are currently under development for commercial, government, and research organizations worldwide. SFL Missions is developing GHGSat-C18 and -C19 on the same low cost, high-performance 15-kg NEMO platform used to build 11 GHGSat satellites over the past decade. sflmissions.com

 

ISRO offers advanced data for lunar polar studies The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter is in orbit around the Moon since 2019 and has been providing high quality data. One of the payloads, the Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) is the first instrument that has mapped the Moon using L-band in full polarimetric mode and in highest resolution (25m/pixel). This advanced radar mode sends and receives signals in both vertical and horizontal directions, making it ideal for studying surface properties. Since launch, about 1400 radar datasets were collected and processed to create polarimetric mosaics of north and south polar region (80 to 90 deg latitude) of the Moon. Using the datasets, the scientists from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad have developed advanced data products, on potential presence of water-ice, surface roughness, as well as an important electrical property, namely dielectric constant which describes features like density and porosity of the Moon’s surface. The algorithm for analysing the full-polarimetric data is developed and data products are generated indigenously by ISRO. These advanced data products are significant in view of gathering a first-order information about Moon’s polar regions. Such regions are expected to have preserved the early chemical conditions of the solar system, which are important clues to explain several facets of evolution of the planetary bodies. This kind of ready-to-use data products on lunar polar regions has always been sought after, because it will provide holistic information to characterise the polar regions for future lunar exploration. These products complement hyperspectral data in studying the distribution of minerals on the Moon. The polar mosaics include key radar parameters that reveal the physical and electrical (dielectric) characteristics of the Moon’s surface and subsurface. The parameters include: • Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR): Indicator of possible presence of water ice. • Single bounce Eigenvalue Relative Difference (SERD): Represents surface roughness. • T-Ratio: Related to the material’s dielectric constant. • Polarimetric decomposition components: Show different types of radar scattering (Odd, Even, Volume, Helix). The derived Polar Mosaic products (Level 3C) are released for the users and freely available in Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) PRADAN website: https://pradan.issdc.gov.in/ch2/protected/browse.xhtml?id=sar The products can be visualized in CH2 MapBrowse: https://chmapbrowse.issdc.gov.in/MapBrowse/ www.isro.gov.in/Lunar_Polar_Region.html