In this presentation the use of Open Standards Based Modules to accelerate the development cycle of Space Applications using AMD Versal devices will be discussed. The presentation starts with a success story: a currently in-orbit hyperspectral sensor on a now extended mission on the ISS (International Space Station), based on SpaceVPX and AMD Zynq7 technology. Following this, future steps...
We will present the latest space grade power architecture supporting an AMD/Versal ACAP FPGA featuring a PMBus based power management infrastructure. Radiation performance data will be presented for all utilized PMICs as well as for the PMBus controller targeting new space applications for low earth orbit employment. Our modular architecture approach consists of a main FPGA board and an...
Frontgrade (formerly CAES, Cobham, Aeroflex, UTMC) pioneers the future and underpins many of the world’s most critical missions. Our radhard/radtolerant microelectronics empower the world’s leading spacecraft: from leading high throughput commercial communications satellites, earth observation satellites, manned space, deep space exploration, and the latest new space constellations.
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Hyperspectral sensors are playing an increasingly relevant role as part of the space missions payload. They acquire vast amounts of data, which are useful in multiple applications but at the same time are difficult to manage because of the limited capacity of both communication channels and on-board storage. Data compression thus becomes mandatory to reduce raw data volume. And with the latest...
AGGA - Advanced GPS / Galileo ASIC denotes a family of ASICs for processing satellite navigation signals. The development started with AGGA-2 already before the year 2000, and continued with AGGA-3 in 2004 and AGGA-4 in 2010. In 2022 ESA initiated an activity to convert the AGGA-4 ASIC RTL sources to an IP core for a range of FPGAs used in ESA space missions; this work was implemented...
The main objective of this activity was to perform a technology assessment of Achronix FPGA-based solution for Ethernet layer 2 switch, targeting to meet a data rate up to 100 Gbps per single channel. Assessment consisted of implementation, simulation and breadboard validation using commercially available BittWare VectorPath S7t-VG6 accelerator card, with the Achronix Speedster AC7t1500 FPGA,...
Lunar Gateway is central to the Artemis missions for returning to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for the first human missions to Mars.
This space station will be a multi-purpose outpost supporting lunar surface missions, science in lunar orbit and human exploration further into the cosmos.
Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the European Space Agency to...
In recent years, the aerospace industry has increasingly focused on reducing satellite costs and, notably, minimizing Time-To-Market (TTM). IP cores offer an ideal solution by providing pre-validated, reusable modules that simplify the design and development process. By leveraging these ready-made components, engineers can concentrate on system integration and customization, accelerating the...
Establising digital trust on a computing platform benefits from hardware root-of-trust (HW-RoT) situated on the computing platform itself. Examples of HW-RoT solutions include TPM, DICE, OpenTitan and Caliptra. These offer a wide range of security and cryptography services for a host system. However, the verification and validation of these solutions may prove challenging, especially when...
The evolving landscape of space system applications demands flexibility, high-performance, and robustness, particularly in high rate data acquisition, processing and transfer. Traditional FPGA families struggle to meet these demanding requirements due to the limitation of internal resources and the fixed nature of one-time programmable FPGAs.
Microchip's RTG4 FPGAs offer a solution to these...
The Comet Interceptor mission, part of ESA’s F-class portfolio, aims to visit a long-period comet, originating from the Oort Cloud and entering the Solar System for the first time. The mission consists of three spacecraft—main spacecraft A and two ‘sub-spacecraft,’ B1 and B2. Spacecraft B2 is equipped with the Optical Periscopic Imager for Comets (OPIC), developed by the University of Tartu,...
In the New Space era, the challenge of determining the need for high-cost radiation-tolerant components versus the viability of using more affordable Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts is increasingly relevant. This decision-making process highlights the need for effective radiation monitoring within satellite payloads to ensure the reliability of systems operating in harsh...
