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Space Research 2014 – 2016 in Switzerland
Space Research 2014 – 2016 in Switzerland
Report to the 41st COSPAR meeting, Istanbul, Turkey, 30 July – 7 August 2016
Editors: Werner Schmutz and Stephan Nyeki
Layout: Stephan Nyeki
Publication by the Swiss Committee on Space Research
(Committee of the Swiss Academy of Sciences)
Edition: 1000, printed 2016
PMOD/WRC, Davos, Switzerland
Cover Page: Swiss CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System) experi-
ment onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Copyright AIUB.
Background picture: Curiosity's view from "Rocknest" looking eastward toward
"Point Lake" (center) on the way to "Glenelg Intrigue" (November 26, 2012).
White-balanced raw color image. Copyright NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space
Science Systems.
Contents
Contents
1 Foreword 3
2 Institutes and Observatories 4
2.1 ISSI – International Space Science Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 ISDC – INTEGRAL Science Data Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 CODE – Center for Orbit Determination in Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 eSpace – EPFL Space Engineering Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.5 SSA – International Space Situational Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.6 SSC – Swiss Space Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.7 Satellite Laser Ranging at the Swiss Optical Ground Station and Geodynamics Obs. Zimmerwald . . . 14
3 Space Access Technology 15
3.1 ALTAIR – Air Launch Space Transportation Using an Automated Aircraft and an Innovative Rocket. . . 15
4 Swiss Space Missions 16
4.1 CHEOPS – Characterising ExOPlanet Satellite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2 CubETH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.3 CleanSpace One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5 Astrophysics 22
5.1 POLAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.2 IBEX – Interstellar Boundary Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.3 HEAVENS – High-Energy Data Analysis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.4 DAMPE – DArk Matter Particle Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.5 Gaia Variability Processing and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.6 LISA Pathfinder/LISA Technology Package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.7 SPICA Infrared Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.8 Swiss Contribution to Euclid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.9 Swiss Contribution to ASTRO-H/Hitomi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.10 ATHENA – Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.11 XIPE – The X-Ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6 Solar Physics 40
6.1 The VIRGO Investigation on SoHO, an ESA/NASA Cooperative Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.2 Probing Solar X-Ray Nanoflares with NuSTAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.3 SPICE – Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment Instrument on Solar Orbiter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.4 EUI – Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on Solar Orbiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.5 CLARA – Compact Lightweight Absolute Radiometer on NORSAT-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.6 STIX – Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-Rays on Solar Orbiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.7 DARA – Digital Absolute Radiometer on PROBA-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.8 MiSolFA – The Micro Solar-Flare Apparatus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.9 FLARECAST – Flare Likelihood and Region Eruption Forecasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1
Contents
7 Earth Observation, Remote Sensing 52
7.1 APEX – Airborne Prism Experiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.2 APEX Instrument and Uncertainty Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
7.3 SPECCHIO – Spectral Information System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.4 HYLIGHT – Integrated Use of Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging Data and Airborne Laser Scanning Data. . 55
7.5 Wet Snow Monitoring with Spaceborne SAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.6 Moving Target Tracking in SAR Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
7.7 Calibration Targets for MetOp-SG Instruments MWS and ICI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.8 FLEX – FLuorescence EXplorer Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.9 SEON – Swiss Earth Observatory Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.10 EGSIEM – European Gravity Service for Improved Emergency Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.11 Relative Normalization of Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Images with Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . 64
8 Comets, Planets 66
8.1 ROSINA – Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
8.2 Seismometer Instrument for NASA InSight Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
8.3 Investigation of the Chemical Composition of Lunar Soils (Luna-Glob and Luna-Resurs Missions). . . . 70
8.4 Investigation of the Volatiles Contained in Lunar Soils (Luna-Resurs Mission). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.5 CaSSIS – The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter . . . . . . 72
8.6 BepiColombo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
8.7 BELA – BepiColombo Laser Altimeter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
8.8 PEP – Particle Environment Package on JUICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
8.9 SWI – Submillimeter Wave Instrument on JUICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.10 CLUPI – CLose-Up Imager for ExoMars Rover 2020. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9 Life Science 80
9.1 Yeast Bioreactor Experiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.2 SPHEROIDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
9.3 CEMIOS – Cellular Effects of Microgravity Induced Oocyte Samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
10 Swiss Space Industries Group 83
11 Index of Authors 85
2
Foreword
1 Foreword
On the occasion of the 41st COSPAR hypothesis to be tested that comets and successfully passed the critical
meeting in Istanbul 2016, the Swiss brought water to Earth. ROSINA’s design review, giving green light for
national Committee on Space measurements observed that wa- construction of the flight hardware.
Research is reporting to the inter- ter on comet 67P /Churyumov- The launch is currently scheduled for
national community. The Committee Gerasimenko contains about three the end of 2017. This mission is of
on Space Research (COSPAR) is an times more deuterium than wa- special interest and importance to
interdisciplinary scientific organiza- ter on Earth. If 67P/Churyumov- the Swiss community as it is the first
tion, which is focused on the ex- Gerasimenko is considered to be a Swiss science satellite.
change of information on progress typical comet similar to those existing
of all kinds of research related to in the early solar system, then it is As the highlights above illustrate,
space. It was established in 1958 by unlikely that comets are the source the Swiss space community is very
the International Council for Science of terrestrial water. This successfully healthy and active. For your informa-
(ICSU) as a thematic organization to achieves a major goal of the mission, tion and to trigger your interest, the
promote scientific research in space and the hypothesis that asteroids fer- brochure at hand is a compilation
on an international level. COSPAR’s ried water to Earth, is now being more of Swiss national projects related to
main activity is the organization of earnestly considered. space research.
biennial Scientific Assemblies.
A huge compliment goes to the ESA Werner Schmutz
The majority of Swiss space research teams who designed a spacecraft President of CSR
activities are related to missions of the and instruments back in 1995, built
European Space Agency (ESA) and the mission and launched it in 2004.
therefore, ESA’s science program is Finally, the space experiment per-
of central importance to the Swiss formed to the highest expectations
science community. from 2014 to 2016. Most of us have
probably long ago disposed of our
The ESA mission attracting most electronic devices from the turn of the
attention among the general public century – but Rosetta’s instruments
in the current reporting period was have been in best health and deliv-
Rosetta, a space mission designed ered what they were designed for.
to visit the comet 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko. Two years ago, when We have witnessed the launch of
the last Swiss COSPAR report ap- the ExoMars mission which, among
peared, the latest news about the other experiments, carries the Swiss
mission was that the Rosetta space- CaSSIS experiment: the Colour and
craft had been successfully woken Stereo Surface Imaging System for
from hibernation in January 2014. the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (see Weblinks
Looking back, we now recognise the title page). We hope to witness similar
incredible success of ESA’s space science highlights as those achieved COSPAR:
mission, which culminated in the by ROSINA. http://cosparhq.cnes.fr
landing of the Philae probe on the
comet’s surface. Looking further into the future, the Swiss Committee on Space Research:
Swiss space community is eagerly www.spaceresearch.scnatweb.ch
From the Swiss point of view, we are awaiting the operation of the first
proud that there is a Swiss experi- Swiss research satellite: CHEOPS, Swiss Commission on Remote Sensing:
ment that contributed to the key sci- CHaracterizing ExOPlanet, which was http://www.naturwissenschaften.ch/
ence goals of the ROSETTA mission: selected by ESA’s science program organisations/skf
the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for as its first small mission. CHEOPS
Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA). was adapted for construction in early Swiss Academy of Sciences:
Its measurements allowed the 2014, designed in the last two years, www.scnat.ch
3
Institutes and Observatories
2 Institutes and Observatories
2.1 ISSI – International Space Science Institute
Fields of Research Realizations in 2014 and 2015
The programme of ISSI covers a In total, 149 International Team meet-
widespread spectrum of disciplines ings, 9 Workshops, 8 Working Group
from the physics of the solar system meetings, and one Forum took place
and planetary sciences to astrophys- in the years 2014 and 2015. ISSI wel-
ics and cosmology, and from Earth comes about 900 visitors annually.
sciences to astrobiology.
Furthermore, ISSI offers a unique
Introduction environment for facilitating and fos-
tering interdisciplinary Earth Science
Directors The International Space Science research. Consequently ESA’s Earth
Institute (ISSI) is an Institute of Observation Programme Directorate
R. Rodrigo (Executive Director) Advanced Studies at which scientists entered a contractual relationship
A. Cazenave from all over the world are invited to with ISSI in 2008 to facilitate syn-
R. von Steiger work together to analyze, compare and ergistic analysis of projects of the
J. Zarnecki interpret their data. Space scientists, International Polar Year, International
J. Geiss (Honorary Director) theorists, modelers, ground-based Living Planet Teams, Workshops and
observers and laboratory researchers Forum. The contract with the ESA
Staff meet at ISSI to formulate interdisci- Earth Science Directorate with ISSI
plinary interpretations of experimental has been extended until 2016.
11 Scientific data and observations. Therefore, the
7 Administrative scientists are encouraged to pool their ISSI established jointly with the
data and results. The conclusions of National Space Science Centre of
Board of Trustees these activities - published in several the Chinese Academy of Sciences
journals or books - are expected to (NSSC/CAS) a branch called ISSI-
Georges Meylan (Chairman), help identify the scientific requirements BJ (International Space Science
École Polytechnique Fédérale de of future space science projects. ISSI’s Institute – Beijing) in 2013. ISSI-BJ
Lausanne, Switzerland study projects on specific scientific shares the same Science Committee
themes are selected in consultation with ISSI and uses the same study
Science Committee with the Science Committee members tools. Since 2014, ISSI has released
and other advisers. together with ISSI-BJ an annual joint
Tilman Spohn (Chairman), Call for Proposals for International
German Aerospace Center (DLR), ISSI’s operation mode is fivefold: Teams in Space and Earth Sciences.
Berlin, Germany International Teams, multi- and in-
terdisciplinary Workshops, Working Since 2015, ISSI has held a Forum ev-
Contact Information Groups, Visiting Scientists and ery year followed by a Workshop and
Forums are the working tools of ISSI. publication of a book in collabora-
International Space Science tion with the ESA High-level Science
Institute (ISSI) The European Space Agency (ESA), Policy Advisory Committee (HISPAC).
Hallerstrasse 6 the Swiss Confederation, and the
CH-3012 Bern Swiss National Science Foundation ISSI is also a part of the Europlanet
Switzerland (SNF) provide the financial resources 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) proj-
for the ISSI’s operation. The University ect. Europlanet 2020 RI addresses key
Tel.: +41 31 631 48 96 of Bern contributes through a grant scientific and technological challenges
Fax: +41 31 631 48 97 to the Director and in-kind facilities. facing modern planetary science by
Since 2010, the Russian Academy of providing open access to state-of-the-
http://www.issibern.ch Sciences is supporting ISSI with an art research data, models and facilities
e-mail: firstname.name@issibern.ch annual financial contribution. across the European Research Area.
4
Institutes and Observatories
ISSI is a participant in the Europlanet SSSI Volume 49: The Physics of SSSI Volume 55: The Disk in
Activity called "Innovation through Accretion on to Black Holes, M. Relation to the Formation of Planets
science networking" and is working Falanga, T. Belloni, P. Casella, M. And Their Protoatmospheres,
together with eight other Europlanet Gilfanov, P. Jonker, A. King (eds.), M. Blanc et al. (eds.), ISSI Beijing
institutes to organize three Workshops ISSI-Workshop held in October Workshop held in August 2014, to
and two strategic Forums over the 2012, published in November 2014, be published in 2016.
duration of the contract which will ad- ISBN 978-1-4939-2226-0.
dress some of the major scientific and Furthermore, results and published
technical challenges of present-day SSSI Volume 50: Giant Planet papers of international Teams in scien-
planetary sciences. Europlanet 2020 Magnetodiscs and Aurorae, K. tific journals or books can be found in
RI will run until 2019. Szegö, N. Achilleos, C. Arridge, ISSI’s Annual Reports 19 (2013 – 2014)
S. Badman, P. Delamere, D. and 20 (2014 – 2015), which are avail-
All scientific activities result in some Grodent, M. Galland Kivelson, P. able online (http://www.issibern.ch/
form of publication, e.g. in ISSI’s hard- Louarn (eds.), ISSI- and Europlanet publications/ar.html).
cover book series Space Sciences Workshop held in November 2012,
Series of ISSI (SSSI), ISSI Scientific published in September 2015, ISBN Outlook
Report Series (SR), both published 978-1-4939-3394-5.
by Springer (reprinted from Space Twenty-nine new International
Science Reviews), or individual papers SSSI Volume 53: The Solar Teams , approved in 2015 by the
in peer-reviewed international scientific Activity Cycle: Physical Causes Science Committee, are starting
journals. As at the end of 2015, 50 and Consequences, A. Balogh, their activities in the twenty-first busi-
volumes of SSSI, and 13 volumes of H. Hudson, K. Petrovay, R. von ness year (2015/16). In addition, five
SR have been published. Information Steiger (eds.), ISSI-Workshop held in Workshops will take place in the 21st
about the complete collection can be November 2013, published in April business year:
found on ISSI’s website http://www.is- 2015, ISBN 978-1-4939-2583-4.
sibern.ch, in the section "Publications". • Jets and Winds in Pulsar Wind
Nebulae and Gamma-ray Bursts.
Publications Forthcoming Publications
• High Performance Clocks, with
The following new volumes appeared SSSI Volume 51: Multi-Scale special emphasis on Geodesy and
in 2014 and 2015: Structure Formation and Dynamics Geophysics and applications to
in Cosmic Plasmas, A. Balogh et al. other bodies of the Solar System
SSSI Volume 46: The Earth's (eds.), ISSI-Workshop held in April (ISSI Workshop in collaboration
Hydrological Cycle, L. Bengtsson, 2013, to be published in 2016. with HISPAC).
R.-M. Bonnet, M. Calisto,
G. Destouni, R. Gurney, J. SSSI Volume 52: Plasma Sources • Shallow Clouds, Water Vapor,
Johannessen, Y. Kerr, W. A. Lahoz, of Solar System Magnetosphere, A. Circulation and Climate Sensitivity.
M. Rast (eds.), ISSI Workshop, F. Nagy et al. (eds.), ISSI Workshop
February 2012, published in July held in September 2013, to be pub- • The Scientific Foundation of Space
2014, ISBN 978-94-017-8788-8. lished in 2016. Weather.
SSSI Volume 47: Microphysics of SSSI Volume 54: The Strongest
Cosmic Plasmas, A. Balogh, A. Magnetic Fields in the Universe,
Bykov, P. Cargill, R. Dendy, T. Dudok V. S. Beskin et al. (eds.), ISSI
de Wit, J. Raymond (eds.), ISSI Workshop held in February 2014, to
Workshop, Apr. 2012, publ. February be published in 2016.
2014, ISBN 978-1-4899-7412-9.
5
Institutes and Observatories
2.2 ISDC – INTEGRAL Science Data Centre
Purpose of Research Status
The INTEGRAL Science Data Centre INTEGRAL was launched in October
Institute (ISDC) was established in 1996 as 2002 and its data are an important
a consortium of 11 European insti- tool of the worldwide high-energy
Dept. Astronomy, tutes plus NASA. It has a central role astrophysics community. They have
Univ. Geneva (UNIGE) in the ground-segment activities for generated about 100 PhD theses
ESA’s INTernational Gamma-Ray (with 15 ongoing), more than 2200
In Cooperation with Laboratory (INTEGRAL). INTEGRAL publications (900 in referred jour-
operates a hard-X-ray imager with nals, increasing steadily), and sev-
European Space Agency a wide field-of-view, a gamma-ray eral astronomical telegrams per
German Aerospace Center polarimeter, a radiation monitor, and month. Moreover, every second day,
Polish Academy of Sciences X-ray and optical monitors, which a gamma-ray burst is detected by
Istituto Nazionale di Astro., Italy have significantly advanced our INTEGRAL and an automatic alert
APC, France knowledge of high-energy astrophys- is sent to robotic telescopes within
CNRS, France ical phenomena. INTEGRAL's ground seconds of the detection so that the
DTU Space, Denmark segment activities are divided into GRBs can be localised.
Centro de Astrobiología, Spain Mission Operation Center, Science
Operation Center (both operated by INTEGRAL carries the most sensi-
Prinicipal Investigator European Space Agency), and the tive all-sky monitor for gamma-ray
ISDC, which is a PI partner of the mis- bursts without localisation capability
T. J.-L. Courvoisier (UNIGE) sion and provides essential services and is an essential tool to discover a
for the astronomical community to gamma-ray counterpart of a gravita-
Method exploit the mission data. tional wave event (Savchenko et al.,
2016). ESA has conducted reviews
Measurement ISDC processes the telemetry from in the past years, and concluded that
the spacecraft to elaborate a set of fuel consumption, solar panel and bat-
Developments widely usable products and it per- tery ageing and orbital evolution will
forms a quick-look analysis to as- allow the mission to be prolonged for
Data from the INTEGRAL gamma-ray sess the data quality and discover many more years. In 2016, an opera-
space observatory are processed, transient astronomical events. These tional review will ascertain the reliability
archived, and distributed to scientists products are distributed to guest ob- of INTEGRAL for the next extension
worldwide together with the software servers and archived at ISDC, which (2017 – 2018). Further extensions will
to analyze them. Quick-look and au- is the only source of publicly acces- be discussed based on the scientific
tomated analyses ensure the data sible and distributed INTEGRAL data. relevance of the mission and budget
quality and the discovery of relevant ISDC also has the task of integrat- constraints.
astronomical events. ing and distributing software with
handbooks for the offline analysis ISDC is an essential pillar of the mis-
Contact Information of INTEGRAL data together and to sion and is currently funded by the
support users. Only as a result of the Swiss Space Office, the University
INTEGRAL Science Data Centre, ISDC contribution are data available of Geneva, and ESA, with contribu-
Astronomical Obs., Univ. Geneva, to the community. tions from the German DLR through
CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland the Inst. Astronomy and Astrophysics
The presence of the ISDC has guar- Tübingen, and the Nicolaus Copernicus
Tel.: +41 22 379 21 00 anteed Swiss scientists a central role Astronomical Center of the Polish
Fax: +41 22 379 21 33 in the exploitation of INTEGRAL data. Academy of Sciences. It scientific and
To date, ISDC members have partici- technical personnel works in syner-
http://www.isdc.unige.ch/integral pated in almost 20% of papers based gy with other space missions in the
e-mail: isdc@unige.ch on INTEGRAL data. Department of Astronomy.
6
Institutes and Observatories
To ensure data quality and to ex- Publications
ploit the potential of the INTEGRAL
observatory, the ISDC staff continu- 1. Courvoisier, T. J.-L., et al., (2003),
ously performs scientific validation to The INTEGRAL Science Data
report relevant "hot" discoveries in Centre (ISDC), A&A, 411, L53 – L57.
collaboration with guest observers.
Remarkably, INTEGRAL managed 2. Papitto, A., C. Ferrigno, E. Bozzo et
to capture the first pulsar swinging al., (2013), Swings between rotation
from accretion and rotation powered and accretion power in a binary
emission, which has been searched millisecond pulsar, Nature, 501,
for since the first evolutionary theo- 7468, 517 – 520.
ries appeared in 1982 (Papitto et al.,
2013). It followed the extraordinary 3. Savchenko, V., C. Ferrigno et al.,
outburst of the black-hole binary (2016), INTEGRAL upper limits on
V404 Cyg in 2015 and 2016 for which gamma-ray emission associated
ISDC has provided ready-to-use data. with the gravitational wave event
ISDC is leading a Memorandum of GW150914, Astrophys. J. Lett., Schematic view of the INTEGRAL ground
Understanding between INTEGRAL 820, L36, 5 pp. segment activities.
and the LIGO-Virgo consortium to
follow-up on-line triggers of potential
gravitational wave events, which are
confidentially distributed.
Follow-up studies performed at ISDC
are mainly in the field of high-energy
astrophysics, which was and remains
its core science. Although a significant
fraction of the research topics are linked
to areas in which INTEGRAL makes a
significant contribution, a variety of oth-
er observation facilities, such as XMM-
Newton, Swift, Chandra, Planck, and
Fermi, have so far been exploited. The
science topics span from nearby X-ray
binaries up to cosmological scales,
with the study of active galactic nuclei
and clusters of galaxies.
Based on an approach merging high-
energy astrophysics with particle phys-
ics, astroparticle physics is rapidly
developing around ISDC. Its central
topics are the nature of dark matter
and dark energy, the origin of cosmic
rays and astrophysical particle accel-
erators. Research in this field needs
data from space and ground-based
gamma-ray telescopes which operate
at higher energies.
7
Institutes and Observatories
2.3 CODE – Center for Orbit Determination in Europe
Purpose of Research center following this approach. In
the meanwhile, other IGS analysis
Using measurements from Global centers have started to follow this
Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) strategy as well.
is (among many other applications)
well established for the realization of In a seperate processing line, a fully
the global reference frame, the in- integrated five-system solution has
vestigation of the system Earth, or developed, including the established
the precise geolocation of Low Earth GNSS, GPS and GLONASS but also
Orbiting (LEO) satellites in space. To the currently developed systems,
support the scientific use and the de- namely the European Galileo, the
velopment of GNSS data analysis, Chinease BeiDou, and the Japanease
the International GNSS Service (IGS) QZSS. The resulting solution is gen-
was established by the International erated in the frame of the IGS multi-
Institute Association of Geodesy (IAG) in 1994. GNSS extension (IGS MGEX).
Astronomical Institute, CODE is one of the leading global
Univ. Bern (AIUB), Bern analysis centers of the IGS. It is a Status
joint venture of the Astronomical
In Cooperation with Institute of the University of Bern The main products are precise GPS
(AIUB), Bern, Switzerland, the and GLONASS orbits, satellite and
Bundesamt für Landestopographie Bundesamt für Landestopographie receiver clock corrections, station
(swisstopo), Wabern, Switzerland (swisstopo), Wabern, Switzerland, coordinates, Earth orientation param-
the Bundesamt für Kartographie eters, troposphere zenith path delays,
Bundesamt f. Kart. u. Geodäsie und Geodäsie (BKG), Frankfurt and maps of the total ionospheric
(BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany a.M., Germany, and the Institute of electron content. The coordinates
Astronomical and Physical Geodesy of the global IGS tracking network
IAPG, Technische Universität (IAPG) of the Technische Universität are computed on a daily basis for
München, Germany München, Munich, Germany. Since studying vertical and horizontal site
the early pilot phase of the IGS (21 displacements and plate motions,
PrincipalSwiss Investigator June 1992) CODE has been running and to provide information for the re-
continuously. The operational pro- alization of the International Terrestrial
R. Dach (AIUB) cessing is located at AIUB using the Reference Frame (ITRF). The daily
Bernese GNSS Software package positions of the Earth's rotation axis
Co-Investigators that is developed and maintained at with respect to the Earth's crust, as
AIUB for many years. well as the exact length-of-day, is de-
A. Jäggi (AIUB) termined each day and provided to
E. Brockmann (swisstopo) Nowadays, data from about 250 glob- the International Earth Rotation and
D. Thaller (BKG) ally distributed IGS tracking stations Reference Systems Service (IERS).
U. Hugentobler (IAPG) are processed every day in a rigorous
combined multi-GNSS (currently the Apart from regularly generated
Method American Global Positioning System products, CODE significantly con-
(GPS) and the Russian counterpart tributes to the development and im-
Measurement GLONASS) processing system of all provement of modeling standards.
IGS product lines (with different laten- Members of the CODE group con-
Developments cies). CODE started with the inclusion tribute or chair different IGS working
of GLONASS in its regular processing groups, e.g., the working group on
GNSS data analysis and software scheme back in May 2003. For five Bias and Calibration. With the on-
development years it has been the only analysis going modernization programs of
8Institutes and Observatories
the established GNSS and the up- Publications
coming GNSS, e.g., the European
Galileo, such work is highly relevant A list of recent publications is avail-
because of the increasing manifold able at:
of signals that need to be consis-
tently processed in a fully combined http:// www.bernese.unibe.ch
multi-GNSS analysis scheme. Other
contributions from CODE are the
derivation of calibration values for
the GNSS satellite antenna phase
center model, GLONASS ambiguity
resolution, and the refinement of the
CODE orbit model.
Abbreviations
CODE Center for Orbit Determination in Europe
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite Systems
GPS Global Positioning System
GLONASS Globalnaja Nawigazionnaja Sputnikowaja Sistema
IGS International GNSS Service
ITRF International Terrestrial Reference Frame
LEO Low Earth Orbit
QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
Network of stations processed by CODE for its final processing scheme (status: March 2016).
9Institutes and Observatories
eSpace EPFL SPACE
2.4 eSpace – EPFL Space Engineering Center
Mission acquire extensive formal teaching in
ENGINEERING the field. These theoretical classes are
The EPFL Space Engineering Center complemented by hands-on multidis-
CENTER (eSpace) shall contribute to space ciplinary projects, which often lead
knowledge and exploration by provid- to the construction of real hardware
ing world-class education, leading (e.g. SwissCube, with ~200 students
space technology developments, co- involved). Several projects are cur-
ordinating multi-disciplinary learning rently ongoing at eSpace, including
projects and taking EPFL's laboratory CubETH (a second "CubeSat" and
research to space. natural successor to SwissCube) and
CleanSpace One, which will dem-
Vision onstrate de-orbiting technologies
necessary for space debris removal.
To establish EPFL as a world re-
nowned Center of Excellence in The center possesses expertise
Space Engineering, and creating in- particularly in the field of system en-
telligent space systems in service to gineering, including Muriel Richard-
humankind. Noca and Anton Ivanov as part of its
senior staff, two experienced scien-
Description tists who worked at NASA-JPL prior
to joining EPFL. eSpace also relies
The Space Engineering Center (eS- on close collaborations with research
pace) is an interdisciplinary entity laboratories and institutes at EPFL.
Institute with the mission of promoting space In many cases, the research and
related research and development at development activities performed
EPFL Space Engineering Center EPFL. eSpace was created in 2014 are carried out directly within these
(eSpace) following a restructuring of the "Swiss entities, with support or coordination
Space Centre". eSpace is active in from eSpace. In this way, the center
Director three key areas: education, devel- can lean on an extensive knowledge
opment projects and fundamental base and state-of-the-art research
H. Shea (EPFL) research. The center coordinates in a number of areas, ranging from
the minor in Space Technologies, robotics to computer vision, and help
Deputy Director which allows master-level students to take these technologies to space.
S. Dandavino (EPFL)
hands on
exploratory learning
Staff projects education projects
5 Scientific, 4 Admin.
Contact Information
EPFL Space Engineering Center research flight
EPFL – ENT – ESC, Station 13 at epfl projects
CH-1015 Lausanne
Tel: +41 (0) 21 693 6948
Fax: +41 (0) 21 693 6940
email: espace@epfl.ch technology
URL: http://eSpace.epfl.ch demonstrations
10Institutes and Observatories
2.5 SSA – International Space Situational Awareness
Purpose of Research as the surveys performed by KIAM,
using the ISON telescopes, provide
The central aim of Space Situational the data to maintain orbit catalogs
Awareness (SSA) is to acquire infor- of high-altitude space debris. These
mation about natural and artificial catalogs enable follow-up observa-
objects in Earth orbits. The growing tions to further investigate the physi-
number of so-called space debris (ar- cal properties of the debris and to
tificial non-functional objects) results eventually discriminate sources of Graphical representation of the space debris population of
in an increasing threat to operational small-size debris. objects >1 cm as seen from three Earth radii (ILR TUB).
satellites and manned spaceflight.
Results from this research are used
Research in this domain aims at a as key input data for the European Institute
better understanding of the near- ESA meteoroid and space debris
Earth environment through extend- reference model MASTER. The Astronomical Institute
ing the catalogs of "known" space AIUB telescopes constitute primary Univ. Bern (AIUB), Bern
objects toward smaller sizes, by optical sensors in the ESA Space
acquiring statistical orbit information Situational Awareness preparatory In Cooperation with
on small-size objects in support of program.
statistical environment models, by European Space Agency (ESA)
characterizing objects to assess their
nature and to identify the sources of Publications Keldish Institute of Applied
space debris. Mathematics (KIAM), Moscow
1. Siminski, J. A., O. Montenbruck,
The research is providing the scien- H. Fiedler, T. Schildknecht, (2014), International Scientific Optical
tific rationale to devise efficient space Short-arc tracklet association for Observation Network (ISON)
debris mitigation and remediation geostationary objects, Adv. Space
measures enabling sustainable outer Res., 53, 1184 – 1194. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und
space activities. Raumfahrt (DLR)/German Space
2. Linder, E., J. Silha, T. Schildknecht, Operation Centre (GSOC)
M. Hager, (2015), Extraction of spin
Status periods of space debris from op- Principal Investigators
tical light curves, Proc. 66th Int.
This is an ongoing international col- Astron. Cong., Jerusalem, Israel. T. Schildknecht (AIUB)
laboration between the Astronomical
Institute of the University of Bern 3. Zittersteijn, M., A. Vananti, T. Co-Investigators
(AIUB), the Keldish Institute of Applied Schildknecht, J. C. Dolado-Perez,
Mathematics (KIAM), Moscow, ESA, V. Martinot, (2015), Associating op- V. Agapov (KIAM)
and DLR. Optical surveys per- tical measurements and estimat- H. Fiedler (DLR)
formed by AIUB using its ZIMLAT ing orbits of geocentric objects
and ZimSMART telescopes in through population-based meta- Method
Zimmerwald and the ESA telescope heuristic methods., Proc. 66th Int.
in Tenerife on behalf of ESA, as well Astron. Cong., Jerusalem, Israel. Measurement, Compilation
Abbreviations Observatories
SSA Space Situational Awareness Zimmerwald, Switzerland
ZIMLAT Zimmerwald Laser and Astrometry Telescope Siding Spring, Australia
ZimSMART Zimmerwald SMall Aperture Robotic Telescope ESA, Tenerife
ISON telescopes
11Institutes and Observatories
2.6 SSC – Swiss Space Center
Mission Members
The Swiss Space Center (SSC) pro- At the end of 2015, the Swiss Space
vides a service supporting institu- Center counted 32 members from
tions, academia and industry to each region of Switzerland, who
Director access space missions and related represent all types of companies
applications, and promote interaction (large size, medium and start-up),
V. Gass (EPFL) between these stakeholders. academies (Swiss Federal Institutes,
Universities, Universities of applied
Staff Roles sciences), Research and Technology
Organizations and institutions.
3 Professors • To network Swiss research insti-
15 Scientific & Technical tutions and industries on national Activities 2015
3 Administrative and international levels in order to
establish focused areas of excel- Pursuing its mission to bring Swiss
Board of Directors lence internationally recognized for space actors together, the Swiss
both space R&D and applications. Space Center established three
D. Neuenschwander (SERI/SSO) working groups in 2014, addressing
P. Gillet (EPFL) • To facilitate access to and imple- the following domains: education,
D. Günther (ETHZ) mentation of space projects for miniaturization & mini- or micro-sys-
Swiss research institutions and tems, high precision mechanisms &
Steering Committee industries. structures. A new working group on
Earth observation & Remote sensing
N. de Rooij (EPFL), Chairman • To provide education and training. was proposed by the members and
M. Rothacher (ETHZ) accepted by the steering commit-
U. Frei (SSO) • To promote public awareness of tee in June 2015. These network-
S. Krucker (Acad. rep.) space. ing platforms give the members the
A. M. Madrigal (RTO rep.)
U. Meier (Industry rep.)
C. Schori (Industry rep.)
Contact Information
Swiss Space Center
EPFL, PPH338, Station 13
CH-1015 Lausanne,
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 21 693 69 48
http://space.epfl.ch
ETH Zurich, c/o Inst. Geodesy and
Photogrammetry, HIL C61.3,
Stefano-Franscini Platz 5,
CH-8093 Zurich,
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 633 30 56
www.space.ethz.ch The Swiss Space Center.
12Institutes and Observatories
An ESA-NPI co-funded PhD thesis carried out at the Swiss Space Center is focused on additive manufacturing. Periodic
cellular structures in aluminum alloy (AlSi12) done by selective laser melting could be a great advantage in solving the
eternal mass saving problem for space applications. These kinds of structure could reduce the weight of spacecraft
by allowing the integration into structural panels of other functions such as heat exchange, energy absorption, micro-
meteoroid and orbitals debris (MMOD) shielding or even radiation protection.
opportunity to present their activities developments in laser technology In parallel, two selections of the new
and express their opinions. will push the boundaries of science National Trainee Program (NTP) were
and technology. This workshop was carried out by the SSC. This pro-
A workshop was hosted in June extended to UK representatives in gram, funded by SERI/SSO, allows
2015 by the Time and Frequency October 2015 with the support of six Swiss citizens (young graduates)
Laboratory of the University of the British Embassy in Switzerland. to work in one of the ESA centers
Neuchatel which was inspired by the Four different themes were ad- across Europe for a maximum of two
working group on Miniaturization and dressed: LASER fundamentals, future years. The SSC is also involved in the
Mini- or Micro-Systems (M3S). In this LASER developments, applications ESA Networking Partnering Initiative
first Swiss workshop on "LASER for for High-Power LASERs and space (NPI) with two co-funded PhD theses
Space Applications", experts from applications. where the candidate will spend three
over ten Swiss organizations (aca- months per year directly at ESA. Work
demia, Research and Technology In support of the Swiss Space Office from one of these theses is illustrated
Organizations (RTO) and industry) (SERI/SSO) for the implementation in the figure above.
came together to present and discuss of Swiss space policy, the SSC has
the development and use of lasers for launched two "Call for Ideas" in 2015. In addition, the continuation of educa-
space applications. The first one targeted short stud- tion classes, space careers events,
ies addressing new innovations for participation in public presentations
Lasers are key components for many space. The second one aimed "to and the international space summer
scientific instruments and technolo- select the best concepts for a future camp are other activities the Swiss
gies, such as next-generation atom- small mission". These initiatives were Space Center conducts throughout
ic clocks, spectrometers and laser a great success with more than 30 the year with its partners in different
telecommunication systems. Novel proposals submitted in total. Swiss locations.
13Institutes and Observatories
2.7 Satellite Laser Ranging at the Swiss Optical Ground
Station and Geodynamics Obs. Zimmerwald
Purpose of Research to spaceborne optical transponders
such as the Lunar Reconnaissance
The Zimmerwald Geodynamics Orbiter (LRO).
Observatory is a station of the global
tracking network of the International The highly autonomous manage-
Laser Ranging Service (ILRS). SLR ment of the SLR operations by the
observations to satellites equipped in-house developed control software
with laser retro-reflectors are ac- is mainly responsible for Zimmerwald
quired with the monostatic 1-m Observatory evolving into one of the
multi-purpose Zimmerwald Laser most productive SLR stations world-
Above: The 1-meter Zimmerwald Laser and Astrometry and Astrometric Telescope (ZIMLAT). wide in the last decade.
Telescope (ZIMLAT)
Target scheduling, acquisition and This achievement is remarkable when
Right page: Laser beam transmitted from the 1-meter tracking, and signal optimization can considering the facts that weather
Zimmerwald Laser and Astrometry Telescope (ZIMLAT) to be performed fully autonomously conditions in Switzerland only allow
measure high accuracy distances of artificial satellites.. whenever weather conditions per- operations about two thirds of the
mit. The collected data are delivered time, and that observation time is
in near real-time to the global ILRS shared during nights between SLR
data centers, while official products operations and the search for space
are generated by the ILRS analysis debris with CCD cameras attached
centers using data from the geodetic to the multi-purpose telescope.
satellites LAGEOS and Etalon.
SLR significantly contributes to the re- Publications
alization of the International Terrestrial
Reference Frame (ITRF), especially 1. Ploner, M., P. Lauber, M. Prohaska,
Institute with respect to the determination of P. Ruzek, T. Schildknecht, A. Jäggi,
the origin and scale of the ITRF. (2015), History of the laser obser-
Astronomical Institute, vations at Zimmerwald, Proc.19th
Univ. Bern (AIUB) Status Int. Workshop on Laser Ranging,
Annapolis, Maryland, USA.
In Cooperation with The design of the 100 Hz Nd:YAG la-
ser system used at the Swiss Optical 2. Schildknecht, T., A. Jäggi, M.
Bundesamt für Landestopographie Ground Station and Geodynamics Ploner, E. Brockmann, (2015),
(swisstopo), Wabern, Switzerland Observatory Zimmerwald enables a The Swiss Optical Ground Station
high flexibility in the selection of the and Geodynamics Observatory
Principal Investigator actual firing rate and epochs, which Zimmerwald, Swiss National
also allows for synchronous operation Report on the Geodetic Activities
T. Schildknecht (AIUB) in one-way laser ranging experiments in the years 2011 – 2015.
Co-Investigators
P. Lauber Abbreviations
M. Ploner
A. Jäggi (AIUB) ILRS International Laser Ranging Service
ITRF International Terrestrial Reference Frame
Method LRO Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
SLR Satellite Laser Ranging
Measurement ZIMLAT Zimmerwald Laser and Astrometry Telescope
14Space Access Technology
3 Space Access Technology
3.1 ALTAIR – Air Launch Space Transportation Using an
Automated Aircraft and an Innovative Rocket
Purpose of Research upper stage and innovative avionics
contribute to mission flexibility and
ALTAIR’s strategic objective is to cost reduction, paired with novel
demonstrate the economic and ground system architectures. All
technical viability of a novel European systems are optimized by exploiting
launch service for the rapidly growing multi-disciplinary techniques, and the
small satellites market. The system is resulting design will be supported
specially designed to launch satel- by flight experiments to advance the
lites in the 50 – 150 kg range into maturity of key technologies.
Low-Earth Orbits, in a reliable and
cost-competitive manner. Within the ALTAIR project, the ETH Institute
Zurich will lead the development of
The ALTAIR system comprises of the launcher structure. By exploit- Insitute of Design, Materials and
an expendable launch vehicle built ing advanced composite materials, Fabrication, ETH Zurich (ETHZ)
around hybrid propulsion and light- implementing novel and structurally
weight composite structures, which is optimized designs, as well as tailoring In Cooperation with
air-launched from an unmanned car- the composite manufacturing pro-
rier aircraft at high altitudes. Following cesses, the structural performance ONERA, France
separation, the carrier aircraft returns of the vehicle will be increased, Bertin Technologies, France
to the launch site, while the rocket thereby enabling the launch of heavier Piaggio Aerospace, Italy
propels the payload into orbit, making payloads. GTD Sistemas de Inform., Spain
the entire launch system partly reus- Nammo Raufoss, Norway
able and more versatile than exist- These state-of-the-art design tech- SpaceTec Partners, Belgium
ing rideshare and piggyback launch niques will eventually advance the CNES, France
solutions. technology of lightweight systems
and promote the use of composite Principal Investigator
ALTAIR will hence provide a dedicat- materials in launch vehicles, expand-
ed launch service for small satellites, ing the current bounds of structural Nicolas Berend
enabling on-demand and affordable efficiency.
space access to a large spectrum Swiss Principal Investigator
of users, from communication and Status
Earth observation satellite operators P. Ermanni (ETHZ)
to academic and research centers, The project, funded through the EU
for whom launch solutions were previ- "Horizon 2020" program, started in Co-Investigators
ously not easily accessible. December 2015. The consolidation
of target mission and costs through G. Molinari
The key feature of the expendable market analyses has been complet- C. Karl
rocket will be an advanced light- ed, and the output in terms of high
weight composite structure, de- level requirements is being used to Method
signed around environmentally green perform subsequent specific studies
hybrid propulsion stages. A versatile at systems level. Measurements and Simulation
Developments
Time-Line From To Development and construction of a
Planning Dec. 2015 Jun. 2017 50 – 150 kg-class satellite launcher
Construction Jul. 2017 Mar. 2018 based on a hybrid aircraft-rocket
Measurement Phase Apr. 2018 Dec. 2018 design for low-cost, low-Earth-orbit
Data Evaluation Apr. 2018 Dec. 2018 space access.
15Swiss Space Missions
4 Swiss Space Missions
4.1 CHEOPS – Characterising ExOPlanet Satellite
Purpose of Research • Bring new constraints on the at-
mospheric properties of known
CHEOPS is the first mission dedicat- hot Jupiters via phase curves.
ed to search for transits of exoplanets
by means of ultrahigh precision pho- • Provide unique targets for detailed
tometry on bright stars already known atmospheric characterisation by
to host planets. future ground- (e.g. the European
Extremely Large Telescope,
It will provide the unique capability E-ELT) and space-based (e.g. the
of determining accurate radii for a James Webb Space Telescope,
subset of those planets for which the JWST) facilities with spectroscopic
mass has already been estimated capabilities.
from ground-based spectroscopic
CHEOPS SQM satellite model at ESA ESTEC for accoustic testing. surveys, providing on-the-fly char- In addition, 20% of the CHEOPS ob-
acterisation for exoplanets located serving time will be made available to
almost everywhere in the sky. the community through a selection
process carried out by ESA, in which
It will also provide precise radii for a wide range of science topics may
new planets discovered by the next be addressed.
generation of ground- or space-
based transits surveys (Neptune-size Status
and smaller).
The Structural Thermal Model
Institute By unveiling transiting exoplanets (STM) campaign has been success-
with high potential for in-depth char- fully completed on instrument and
Center for Space and Habitability & acterization, CHEOPS will also pro- spacecraft.
Institute of Physics, vide prime targets for future instru-
Univ. Bern (UNIBE) ments suited to the spectroscopic The instrument Engineering Model
characterisation of exoplanetary (EM) has been delivered to the space-
In Cooperation with atmospheres. craft, and spacecraft level testing of
the EM will commence shortly.
Institut für Weltraumforschung Graz In particular, CHEOPS will:
Centre Spatial de Liege The instrument has gone through
ETH Zurich • Determine the mass-radius rela- Critical Design Review (CDR), while
EPFL Space Engineering Center tion in a planetary mass range for system CDR is on-going.
Observatoire Geneve which only a handful of data exist
Lab. d’Astrophysique de Marseille and to a precision not previously Publications
DLR Inst. for Planetary Research achieved.
DLR Inst. for Optical Sensor Systems 1. Broeg, et al., (2013), CHEOPS:
Konkoly Observatory • Identify planets with significant at- A transit photometry mission for
INAF Osserv. Astrofisico di Catania mospheres in a range of masses, ESA’s small mission programme,
distances from the host star, and EPJ conf., 47, p. 3005.
INAF Osserv. Astro. di Padova stellar parameters.
Centro de Astrofisica da Universi 2. Fortier, A., T. Beck, W. Benz, C.
dade do Porto • Place constraints on possible Broeg, V. Cessa, D. Ehrenreich, N.
Deimos Engenharia planet migration paths followed Thomas, (2014), CHEOPS: A space
Onsala Space Observatory during the formation and evolution telescope for ultra-high precision
Stockholm University of planets. photometry of exoplanet transits,
Univ. Warwick Proc. SPIE 9143, 91432J.
16Swiss Space Missions
Abbreviations Principal Investigator
CHEOPS CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite W. Benz (UNIBE)
CDR Critical Design Review
E-ELT European Extremely Large Telescope Co-Investigators
JWST James Webb Space Telescope
SQM Spacecraft Qualification Model T. Barczy W. Baumjohann
STM Structural Thermal Model T. Beck C. Broeg
M. Davies M. Deleuil
D. Ehrenreich A. Fortier
Time-Line From To M. Gillon A. Gutierrez
Planning Mar. 2013 Feb. 2014 L. Kiss A. L.-d-Etangs
Construction Mar. 2014 End 2017 G. Olofsson G. Piotto
Measurement Phase 2018 Mid 2021 D. Pollacco D. Queloz
Data Evaluation 2018 Onwards R. Ragazzoni E. Renotte
N. Santos T. Spohn
M. Steller S. Udry
and the CHEOPS Team
Method
Measurement
Development and
Construction of Instruments
Switzerland is responsible for the de-
velopment, assembly, and verification
of a 32 cm diameter telescope as well
as the development and operation of
the mission's ground segment.
Industrial Hardware Contract to
Almatech
Connova AG
CHEOPS Structural and Thermal Model (STM) in the CHEOPS Lab at the University of Bern Pfeiffer Vacuum AG
being prepared for the environmental tests. P&P
RUAG Space
17Swiss Space Missions
4.2 CubETH
Purpose of Research 1) u-blox AG is supplying GNSS chips
and knowledge on chip algorithms.
CubETH is a project to evaluate
low-cost Global Navigation Satellite 2) RUAG Space is helping with test-
Systems (GNSS) sensors on a nano- ing procedures and the analysis of
satellite by following the CubeSat test data.
standard. GNSS sensors will be used
for precise orbit determination and 3) Saphyrion is helping with exper-
validation of attitude determination tise in electrical systems and beacon
of the cube. The project will verify design.
in-space use of commercial off-the-
shelf (COTS) GNSS detectors and 4) ELSE SA is supporting the design
novel algorithms for onboard data and fabrication of the bus.
processing.
Integrated mechanical model of By 2016, over a hundred students
CubETH ©Space Engineering Center A programme goal of the project is and staff were involved in the project
to encourage cooperation between across five different schools, rang-
ETHZ and EPFL schools, involving ing from bachelor students to senior
engineers and students from fed- scientists and professors.
Institute eral schools as well from the HES/
FH domain. The project will serve to
Geodesy and Geodynamics Lab., educate new generations of highly Status
ETH Zurich (ETHZ) qualified engineers.
PDR was passed in early 2015. By
EPFL Space Engineering Center, The Geodesy and Geodynamics Lab. mid-2015, a structural model of the
(eSpace), EPFL at the ETHZ is responsible for the satellite was constructed and vibra-
scientific instrument (payload). GNSS tion-tested. The electrical model (also
In Cooperation with sensors are provided by the Swiss known as FlatSat) is now under de-
company u-blox AG. The Space veloment. It represents all electrical
Hochschule Lucerne Engineering Center is working on the and data interfaces (payload, con-
satellite bus (1U-Cubesat). Both main trol and data management, elec-
Hochschule Rapperswil responsible entities (ETHZ and EPFL) trical power and communication).
work closely together with the differ- Programmatic considerations now
Haute école spécialisée de Suisse ent "Fachhochschulen" and industry target a launch in 2018.
occidentale – HES-SO, Sion partners of Switzerland.
u-blox AG Final integration and testing will be Publications
performed at the Space Engineering
RUAG Space, Switzerland Center. Science operations will be 1. Ivanov, A. B., M. Rothacher, L.
driven by ETHZ in close collabora- Masson, S. Rossi, F. Belloni,
ELSE SA tion with ground stations for mission N. Mullin, R. Wiesendanger, C.
operations located at the Hochschule Hollenstein, B. Mannel, D. Willi,
CSEM Lucerne and Hochschule Rapperswil. M. Fisler, P. Fleischman, H.
Mathis, M. Klaper, M. Joss, and
Saphyrion Collaboration with industry is very E. Styger, (2015), CubETH: Nano-
important for this project. The follow- satellite mission for orbit and at-
Principal Investigator ing companies are playing a vital role titude determination using low-cost
in various aspects: GNSS receivers, 66th International
M. Rothacher (ETHZ) Astronautical Congress.
18Swiss Space Missions
Abbreviations Project Manager
1U-CubeSat Standard unit volume for pico-satellites 10 x 10 x 10 cm A. Ivanov
COTS Commercial off-the-shelf
FlatSat Open version of the satellite Method
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System
PDR Preliminary Design Review Measurement
Research Based
on Existing Instruments
Time-Line From To
Planning Jan. 2013 Dec. 2014 GNSS Sensors developed and
Construction Jan. 2014 Dec. 2017 tested by u-blox AG.
Measurement Phase 2018 2019 TBC
Data Evaluation 2018 TBC 2019 TBC Industrial Hardware Contract to
EPFL Space Engineering
Center (eSpace)
CubETH mechanical model by student Sébastien Von Rohr. Structure concept by ELSE SA.
19Swiss Space Missions
4.3 CleanSpace One
Purpose of Research Status
China’s demonstration of its capa- The project is now looking for funding
bility to destroy an aging satellite and technical partners.
in 2007, and the collision between
the American operational satellite
Iridium and the Russian Cosmos in Publications
2009 brought a new emphasis to
the orbital debris problem. Although 1. Chamot, B., (2013), Technology
Artist's impression of SwissCube capture by CleanSpace One most of the work had been concen- Combination Analysis Tool (TCAT)
©Jamani Caillet, EPFL. trated on avoidance prediction and for active debris removal, 6th
debris monitoring, all major space European Conference on Space
agencies are now claiming the need Debris, ESA/ESOC, Darmstadt,
for active removal of debris (ADR). Germany.
About 23,500 debris items above 10
cm have been catalogued. Roughly 2. Richard, M. et al., (2013),
2000 of these are remains of launch Uncooperative rendezvous and
vehicles, 3000 belong to defunct sat- docking for MicroSats – The
ellites and the rest are either mission- case for CleanSpace One, 6th
Institute generated or fragmentation debris. International Conference on Recent
Advances in Space Technologies
EPFL Space Engineering Center The motivation behind the CleanSpace (RAST), Istanbul, Turkey.
(eSpace), EPFL One project is to increase international
awareness and start mitigating the 3. Richard, M., et al, (2013),
In Cooperation with impact on the space environment by Uncooperative rendezvous and
acting responsibly and removing our docking for MicroSats, The case for
Haute école spécialisée de Suisse "debris" from orbit. The objectives of CleanSpace One, 6th International
occidentale – HES-SO (HEPIA, the project are thus: Conference on Recent Advances in
Valais, HE-ARC) Space Technologies, RAST 2013,
1) To increase awareness and respon- Istanbul, Turkey.
Fachhochschule NTB sibility with regard to orbital debris
and educate aerospace students.
ELSE SA Abbreviations
2) To demonstrate technologies re-
Principal Investigator lated to ADR which are scalable to ADR Active Debris Removal
the removal of micro-satellites.
M. Richard-Noca (EPFL)
3) To de-orbit a target, SwissCube or
Swiss Principal Investigator any Swiss similar satellite that com-
plies with the launch constraints.
EPFL
This project will contribute to the
Co-Investigators Space Sustainability and Awareness
with ADR actions. Current activities
HES-SO, ELSE, NTB include development of the cap-
ture system, Guidance-Navigation
Method and Control, and systems related to
the rendezvous sensors and image
Measurement processing.
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