Kongsberg NanoAvionics 16U cubesat bus assembly. Photo: Kongsberg

The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Kongsberg NanoAvionics to build a large cubesat platform for an in-orbit demonstration program that will host multiple European payloads. 

Under the award from ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), NanoAvionics will build a 12-16U spacecraft for the In-Orbit Demonstration/In-Orbit Validation (IOD/IOV) program. It’s an aggregator program that allows academia, research organisations, SMEs and larger industrial companies to test new technologies in orbit. Multiple IOD/IOV missions have launched so far, the first one was in 2020. 

NanoAvionics will be responsible for the design, assembly, integration, testing, ground segment, and operations of the satellite for the mission, called IHE1-5 CubeSat. 

ESA has already pre-selected eight potential payloads from over 50 potential candidates for this mission. The final selection of the IOD/IOV experiments will be completed after the system definition review during the coming months. ESA has not announced a target launch date yet, but it will be launched on a European launch vehicle through the European Flight Ticket Initiative. 

“There are many European entities that have the potential to become key actors in their technology domains and strengthen European supply chains. Supporting them by accommodating their experiments on a platform, gaining flight heritage, and building confidence with potential customers and investors is a great way for ESA to support the European space sector. ESA trusts Kongsberg NanoAvionics’ capability to timely provide this accommodation service to them,” Patrice Kerhousse, IOD/IOV program manager commented.