January 2022 – Dragonfly Aerospace, South Africa’s leading manufacturer of imaging satellites and payloads, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) with Elecnor Deimos, a world leader in Space technologies and satellite image processing.
According to the memorandum, Dragonfly will incorporate the Insight4EO software product from Deimos in its existing nanosatellite camera range, greatly simplifying the image processing needs for nanosatellite earth observation mission operators and reducing the downlink volume to enable greater coverage per satellite and from constellations as a whole. The Deimos Insight4EO image processing software will run on the existing Dragonfly nano-camera controller module that is shared across all of Dragonfly’s nanosatellite camera products.
The joint development with Dragonfly Aerospace and Deimos Space will first be implemented on the Chameleon Hyperspectral camera before being offered as an option on all Dragonfly’s nanosatellite cameras. This enhancement of the existing Dragonfly nanosatellite camera range will further simplify customer nanosatellites and greatly improve the overall performance of their nanosatellite systems. Dragonfly’s nanosatellite cameras already implement 128 GB of non-volatile on-board memory, removing the need for customer nanosatellites to incorporate a separate mass memory data storage. High-speed SpaceWire or LVDS interfaces allow the cameras to be connected directly to the nanosatellite data transmitter.
The Insight4EO software product from Deimos has been developed as a turn-key on-board processing and intelligence product to enhance the performance and throughput of Earth observation missions and payloads. The Insight4EO product provides software defined on-board data processing services for satellites, facilitating the edge-computing paradigm for knowledge and decision making in real-time, and for increased mission autonomy, throughput and return-on-investment. The Insight4EO product is already incorporated in DEIMOS’ small satellites and the further employment of Insight4EO on Dragonfly’s nanosatellite cameras confirms the added value provided by such its innovative on-board data processing services.
‘Insight4EO is the result of a significant effort on internal investment and participation in European R&D programmes to provide innovative operational solutions to commercial Earth observation systems’, says Ismael López, CEO of Elecnor Deimos. ‘Partnering with Dragonfly is an excellent opportunity to increase our market and to consolidate our role as a leading supplier of on-board intelligence systems.’
“This is the next step in Dragonfly’s plans to optimise our high-performance products for large imaging constellation operations. We will continue to innovate and improve our products to aid our customers in achieving their targets of implementing highly capable and productive systems. The nanosatellite industry continues to redefine what is possible with this class of satellite.” said Bryan Dean, CEO of Dragonfly Aerospace.
It is expected that a formal agreement on cooperation between the companies will be signed in the coming months.
About Elecnor Deimos | www.elecnor-deimos.com
Elecnor Deimos is a multinational company with 500 employees and subsidiaries in 5 European countries. The company develops systems and technology for space, transport, aeronautical and maritime sectors, and designs and implements digital transformation processes.
In Space, Elecnor Deimos excels in mission analysis and design, systems engineering and ground segment systems. The company also leads in onboard software solutions, as well as in the integration of science and research satellites, satellite navigation, Earth observation, space awareness and launchers.