Today, three new In-Orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) missions were launched onboard of the European launcher Vega flight VV23 from the European spaceport in French Guyana, under the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. The three missions, six satellites and nine experiments, will allow the test of technologies with a wide variety of application, which are detailed below.
The European Union IOD/IOV programme allows experiments to be tested in orbit and get flight heritage (validation in real environment) for scientific, public, or commercial purposes. The test of technologies in orbit is the final step before placing them on the market. Through the IOD/IOV missions, the European Union, supported by the European Space Agency, is closing the gap between the development of a technology and its commercialisation. This is a fantastic way to boost the competitiveness of the European space industry through innovation, and to enhance European scientific excellence.
The SYNDEO-1&2 cubesat mission is aggregating seven IOD/IOV experiments, while the ESTCube-2 and ANSER missions are provided as ready to fly satellites for in-orbit demonstration.
In total, in this Vega launch, entities from six European countries will benefit from IOD/IOV services.
- SYNDEO-1 & SYNDEO-2: for the first time under the Horizon 2020 the EU is launching aggregated missions of seven experiments covering different space themes from space science, technology, propulsion, space traffic management. The missions are implemented by the Dutch aerospace company ISISpace and the payloads were produced by universities and SMEs from Belgium, Spain, France and Czechia.
- ESTCube-2: a mission developed by a group of space students from University of Tartu (Estonia) consisting of a 3U cubesat to demonstrate deorbiting with plasma brake technology and qualify a deep-space nanospacecraft platform for future missions that will use the electric solar wind sail.
- ANSER: developed by the Spanish Institute INTA (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial) whose objective is to study and monitor the water quality of the reserves of the Iberian Peninsula by means of spectrometric techniques. It consists of a cluster of 3X3U Cubesats that will fly in formation in low earth orbit.
Ultimately, the entire space ecosystem is supported through the IOD/IOV program of the Commission, from universities and research centres to SMEs and satellite manufacturers. IOD/IOV also supports an autonomous access to Space by relying on European launch solutions. It is instrumental to the CASSINI initiative of the Commission to support the fast development of new commercial entrants in space.
Background
The IOD/IOV programme of the Commission launched the first call of interest in 2018 under Horizon 2020. It attracted more than 50 proposals from various European entities, from SMEs to large companies, universities, and research organisations. Successful applications relate to technology innovation for Earth observation, positioning navigation and timing, satellite communication and space science. In September 2020, the first selected IOD/IOV experiment, UPMSat-2, was successfully launched on board the Vega launcher. The three new missions launched in October 2023 are part of the selection.
