Sector: Planetary Expolration/Autonomous Navigation

Number of satellites: 1

Form factor: 6U

The main goal of FUTURE - Fully aUtonomous feaTUre Recognition planetary Explorer - is to increase spacecraft autonomy by developing autonomous position estimation capabilities, thus reducing reliance on operators and ground support services and facilities. The nanosatellite will be developed by Tyvak International S.r.l., in collaboration with AIKO S.r.l., ALTEC S.p.A. and Politecnico di Milano. The sensors on board the CubeSat will provide data to different artificial intelligence algorithms able to identify features on the Earth's surface and autonomously determine the satellite position. The project is designed for LEO, but its results may also be used in the future for applications beyond Earth orbit, such as missions to planets and moons, improving autonomous operation and navigation in the proximity of different celestial bodies. In LEO, position knowledge accuracy will be validated against the GNSS time and position information available to the spacecraft. The mission will use a Tyvak 6U nanosatellite and will leverage the extensive background of the consortium in on-board image processing, artificial intelligence and navigation.

Development team: Tyvak International S.r.l. (Prime); AIKO S.r.l.; ALTEC S.p.A.; Politecnico di Milano.

Development status: Phase D (manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing) ongoing.