Weighing less than 5kg, NESS is a pocket-sized demonstrator! But this nanosatellite, due to be placed in orbit in October 2023, also represents a major challenge. In technological terms, NESS carries miniaturized technologies designed to detect and locate interfering terrestrial transmitters; its launch was intended to enable in-orbit validation. But it’s also in our fruitful collaboration with a young, responsive and innovative company, U-Space, that the interest of this project lies.
The origins of the NESS mission lie in a student project, EyeSat, which we launched in 2019 as part of the Nanolab Academy. This led to the creation of the company and the development of the demonstrator. The manufacture of NESS and its launch into orbit were thus a key milestone in U-Space’s development, giving the team the opportunity to demonstrate its skills and potential as a trusted player in the French space projects we support.
Towards further demonstration
One year after the launch of NESS, measurements and analyses confirm the success of this collaboration, revealing the added value of the demonstrator and the competitiveness of this type of compact sensor as a complement to larger systems. This success has led us to launch the NESS+ program. The aim? To extend the demonstration through the production, launch and operation of two identical nanosatellites, recurring in the NESS demonstrator.
NESS+ is scheduled for launch in 2027. Once in orbit, these satellites will pursue the initial objective of NESS: to evaluate the performance of the payload in detecting and locating interfering transmitters.
Spektreye, a state-of-the-art payload
The NESS demonstrator is equipped with cutting-edge technology developed by French manufacturer Syrlinks, part of Safran Electronics & Defense: the Spektreye payload, the operational heart of the demonstration mission. Spektreye incorporates advanced technology for the detection and localization of interference on GNSS signals. It accurately digitizes the civil radio frequency spectrum in the UHF, VHF L and S bands, a key element in analyzing sources of interference. Spectrum management, which has become critical due to the increase in transmissions (telephony, television, GNSS), is essential to prevent interference and optimize space links, both active and passive.
Production of the NESS+ has also been entrusted to U-Space, in order to capitalize on the Toulouse-based company’s key assets: the expertise accumulated during the development of the demonstrator, a high-level engineering team, state-of-the-art production infrastructures – the U-Zine, just inaugurated in Toulouse – and last but not least, a parallelized AIT (Assembly, Integration and Test) process, optimizing production costs.
The renewal of this collaboration brings U-Space one step closer to its ambition of becoming world leader in the market for nanosatellite constellations (10 to 150 kg). It also underlines our commitment to supporting the French satellite industry and the competitiveness of the French space ecosystem.