Scanway and German Orbital Systems. Polish-German satellite mission will go into orbit already in 2022

10.12.2021

Wroclaw-based Scanway and Berlin-based German Orbital Systems are preparing a joint space mission STAR VIBE. Their satellite will be launched from Florida in mid-2022 aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Details of the venture have just been revealed. The creators of Scanway are the winners of "30 Creative Wroclaw 2017".

In Wroclaw Technology Park, where Scanway works, the Polish-German STAR VIBE satellite mission was announced and details of Scanway’s cooperation with German Orbital Systems from Berlin were presented.

Jedrzej Kowalewski, CEO of Scanway, highlights that their goal is to test in space conditions the operation of the high-resolution optical telescope STAR (Small Telescope for Advanced Reconnaissance) and the system for self-diagnosis of satellites VIBE (Vision Inspection Boom Experiment), which was created by Scanway.

In the space sector a lot can be achieved by cooperation. The project of the first Polish-German satellite is for me a particularly important achievement, because it gives room for cross-border development of mutually interesting technologies. There is no greater engine for development than working with an experienced partner, and German Orbital Systems is certainly one of them. I look forward to the results of next year’s mission aboard SpaceX rocket, which we will be able to share with the entire Polish and German space sector. – Jedrzej Kowalewski, CEO Scanway.

Karolina Bartosik, director of customer service and research projects at WTP, emphasizes that Scanway’s mission is special for Wroclaw Technology Park because the company started working with them as a student.

– Scanway is an example that we have people full of ideas, and WTP creates an ecosystem of people connected with technology. We keep our fingers crossed and, like the city, we declare our support in the development – adds Karolina Bartosik.

Oskar Karczewski from the Polish Space Agency congratulated Scanway and said that the new technologies they develop will have an impact on the innovative development of Wroclaw and Lower Silesia.

STAR VIBE satellite mission

Scanway reports that preparations for the mission began in June 2021. The satellite will be launched in June/July 2022 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which will take off from Florida. Scanway’s optical payload, which includes a high-resolution telescope and a system to auto-inspect and self-diagnose the satellite during flight, will be carried on the Cubesat 6U satellite, prepared by German company German Orbital Systems (GOS), with which Scanway has already collaborated on the ScanSAT satellite.

The mission will test how space conditions: UV radiation, vacuum, demanding temperature cycles and microgravity affect: electronics that allow optical sensor data acquisition, processing and recording, mechanical designs of optical systems, and optical system designs to observe the Earth from orbit, inspect changes and potential failures in satellites. The mission will also verify that such factors affect the quality of the acquired images while in orbit.

The mission will test two optical instruments that will provide images of the Earth and self-diagnostic images of the satellite in orbit. These mission milestones will test critical Scanway-designed and manufactured components of the satellite's science payload. The mission will also be an opportunity to verify the progress in the development of domestic components related to the secure satellite data acquisition technology - adds Jedrzej Kowalewski.

Scanway balloon missions

During the inauguration of the Polish-German project, the third stratospheric balloon Scanway Space was carried out this year. As in previous launches, the purpose of this one was to test the behavior of optical, mechanical and electronic components in space-like conditions.

Among them were elements of the mission, which in the end, in June 2022, will be placed on Earth orbit. The balloon ascended to an altitude of 35 km and then burst, and the 1.5 kg payload with the equipment, on a parachute, landed near Konin. In the next few days the Scanway team will analyze data collected during the flight. Here you can see the route of the Scanway Space balloon.

Scanway Wroclaw: optics for industrial and space applications

It’s worth mentioning that Scanway Space, based in Wroclaw, has extensive experience in space projects.

The company is responsible for preparing the telescope for the EagleEye satellite, which is the largest observation telescope fully designed and built in Poland, and telescopes for the Polish satellite constellation PIAST.

Scanway is also a leader of a consortium, which will prepare for the Polish Space Agency a study entitled “Development of the concept of an innovative project in the area of: optical Earth observations together with an assessment of its feasibility”.

Scanway from Wroclaw specializes in designing advanced optics for industrial and space applications. The creators of Scanway are the winners of the “30 Creative Wroclaw 2017 “