GMV forms part of a consortium led by OHB System AG. The study to be carried out by this consortium aims to define, analyze and design a mission for monitoring the Sun’s activity

The activity, falling within the European Space Agency’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program, sets out to send a spacecraft to orbit the Lagrange L5 point (chosen due to its stability and visibility properties). After reaching its orbit, the spacecraft’s mission is to obtain and compile information about the interplanetary medium, plus sun data, to be sent back to earth where it will be further used for improvements in various sectors of the technological community, such as navigation, terrestrial communications, electronics, healthcare and many more.

Within this research project GMV will be responsible for developing the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system as well as analyzing the feasibility of the proposed design in accordance with the overall system design of the spacecraft. Specifically, GMV will be inputting the GNC requirements and a selection of the spacecraft’s GNC sensors, actuators and algorithms.

By midway through the year, when the project’s Preliminary Concept Review (PCR) is due, GMV will have to ascertain the diverse pros and cons of the satellite’s attitude and orbital control system (AOCS/GNC), as well as conducting a feasibility analysis in order to establish a preliminary baseline for the GNC system.