Sector: Earth Observation

Number of satellites: 3

Form factor: 16 U XL

Description: The main objective of the SATURN mission is to demonstrate and validate the “Cooperative Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO)” technology: a formation flying of 3 CubeSats equipped with miniaturized SAR Instruments, able to both transmit and receive the signal, flying on the same orbit and at an overall distance of a few hundred meters. The synchronized transmission and reception of the three SARs make it possible to process and coherently recombine on-ground the data obtained. The innovation of the SATURN mission lies in achieving high performance, in terms of resolution and ground swath, comparable to that of larger and more expensive assets. This technology allows a redistribution of the necessary resources (primarily electrical power) on multiple smaller platforms, going beyond the limits of small satellites, such as CubeSats. The demonstration mission within this project is the first step of a larger roadmap, which involves the release of a constellation of SATURN satellites to achieve high performance in terms of review time and information age, making the system “near real-time.”