Infante is an initiative comprising several Portuguese firms and organizations, co-funded by the EU and slated for a late-2020 launch. The Infante’s payload includes, notably, the GMV-developed AIR hypervisor, which will provide the satellite with a robust, safety-critical solution using the TSP (Time and Space Partitioning) paradigm.

The TSP paradigm allows multiple payload applications to be executed while ensuring their isolation, i.e. guaranteeing that any potential failure will not propagate and compromise the mission. AIR will implement this concept by containing each payload application in robust partitions while at the same time affording access to common resources such as the processor, memory and communication layers.

AIR is GMV’s TSP solution for Space supporting the qualified version of RTEMS (Real-Time Executive for Multiprocessor Systems). It has been the fruit of a set of ESA activities to bring the TSP concept to the Space domain.

 

Acronym: INFANTE

Main Objective: Reinforce research, technological development and innovation

Synthesis: INFANTE is an R&D project that proposes the development and the in-orbit demonstration of a small satellite, as the first component of a constellation for maritime surveillance, Earth observation and communications between satellites and ground stations.

The project’s Space segment includes a low-cost and modular micro-satellite, equipped with a communications system based on software-defined radio (functions include networking, ranging, and aerial and nautical surveillance); a propulsion system for changing or maintaining orbit; mechanisms that open and orient the solar panels, and a cargo bay with sensors for technology validation and scientific experiments such as SAR and multi-spectral camera.

Furthermore, the Ground segment includes a system to support the fast-track assembly, integration and testing of small satellites, to support very frequent launch activities; and a “data hub” to aggregate, process and disseminate data, in support to sustainable institutional and business services.

INFANTE is led by TEKEVER and puts together renowned Portuguese companies in the field of Space Research such as Active Space Technologies, GMV, HPS, Omnidea and SpinWorks, amongst others; internationally recognized R&D centres such as CEIIA, FCT-UNL, FEUP, INL, IPN, ISEP, ISQ, ISR Lisboa, IT Aveiro and UBI; national partners like Deimos Engenharia and Optimal; end-users such as IPMA or INIAV and international organizations like the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This project will take advantage of the opportunities created by the New Space emergence and the promising expertise developed over the last 20 years in Portugal.

Thus, laying a foundation where Portugal asserts itself as a first-line country in access to Space and opening doors for a new set of players that are focused in reducing the barriers in investment and so, creating new lines of business that reduce the institutional dependency of this country’s sector.

Total Eligible Costs: 134 449,60 €

Total Funding: 53 779,84 € (FEDER / COMPETE 2020)

Reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-024534

Funding: P2020

Start Date: 01-11-2017

End Date: 31-10-2019

Partners: TEKEVER ASDS, LDA, ACTIVE SPACE TECHNOLOGIES - ACTIVIDADES AEROESPACIAIS, S.A., CEIIA - CENTRO DE ENGENHARIA E DESENVOLVIMENTO (ASSOCIAÇÃO), INSTITUTO DE SOLDADURA E QUALIDADE, OMNIDEA LDA, TEKEVER III COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, LDA, TEKEVER SPACE - SISTEMAS ESPACIAIS, LDA, UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO, ACTIVE AEROGELS, LDA, CRITICAL SOFTWARE S.A., UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA, GMVIS SKYSOFT, S.A., HPS HIGH PERFORMANCE STRUCTURES GESTÃO E ENGENHARIA, LDA, LABORATÓRIO IBÉRICO INTERNACIONAL DE NANOTECNOLOGIA (LIN), INSTITUTO PEDRO NUNES-ASSOCIAÇÃO PARA A INOVAÇÃO E DESENVOLVIMENTO EM CIENCIA E TECNOLOGIA, INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO DE TOMAR, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO, SONDAR.I - AMOSTRAGENS E TECNOLOGIAS DO AR, LDA, SPIN.WORKS S.A., UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR

Local Coordinator: Daniel Silveira