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Content archived on 2024-05-28

Small and Medium Enterprise Satellite (SME-SAT)

Objective

Fueled by mass market demand, terrestrial consumer electronics continue to drive technology advancement in the field of microelectronics devices. Many of these technologies are spearheaded by the contributions of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). There is a clear opportunity to revolutionize space technologies by leveraging advancement in the commercial electronics market. However, despite the obvious benefits to the space industry, it remains difficult for SMEs to get involved due to the significant cost, effort, time, and paper work to qualify parts for space applications. A trend toward smaller and cheaper satellites allows for a novel approach to space qualification and testing. Nanosatellites (between 1kg and 10kg) can be launched at a relatively low cost as piggy back payloads for larger satellite missions. Since the cost of failure is an order of magnitude lower than conventional satellites, nanosatellites offer an ideal platform for high risk demonstration missions.

The aim of this project is to flight qualify a wide range of SME payloads in a 3U 3kg nanosatellite platform operating at a 700km orbit. The primary purpose of this spacecraft is as a technology demonstrator. Each SME in the consortium will be responsible for contributing a particular spacecraft subsystem. The University of Surrey will integrate these systems into the nanosatellite platform, and will also be responsible for the ADCS and CMGs of the satellite. ISIS will oversee the launch opportunity and deployment of the satellite. Astrium, as a Large System Integrator (LSI), will help roadmap the technology demonstrated in this mission to future applications within the European space framework.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-SPACE-2012-1
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
EU contribution
€ 376 878,73
Address
Stag Hill
GU2 7XH Guildford
United Kingdom

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Region
South East (England) Surrey, East and West Sussex West Surrey
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Participants (9)

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