The EagleEye microsatellite successfully passed all testing stages, thereby affirming its reliability and enhancing the safety of the satellite mission slated for 2024. The tests were carried out at the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences and in Berlin, with participation from Exolaunch, who will manage the mission and integration of the satellite with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
The EagleEye project will mark the culmination of the proprietary HyperSat satellite platform project, which has been under development for several years and is slated for extensive commercialization in the future.
The EagleEye satellite also underwent radiation testing at the Polish National Center for Nuclear Research, which was conducted to verify the avionic systems’ resistance to cosmic radiation.
Weighing approximately 60 kg, the design of the EagleEye observation satellite is based on the proprietary HyperSat platform. This versatile platform is engineered to facilitate a broad range of missions, from technological and scientific, to observation and telecommunication and even deep space expeditions. Its modular design enables scalability of satellites within the 25-100 kg range, and potentially even beyond 200 kg in the future. The EagleEye satellite will be outfitted with an optical telescope designed by Scanway S.A., capable of capturing high-resolution images of Earth at an approximate resolution of 1 m. Additionally, it will feature an instrument computer developed by the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In May, Creotech Instruments signed an agreement with Berlin-based Exolaunch to oversee the launch campaign for the EagleEye satellite. Under the contract, the satellite will be launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 via Exolaunch, who will provide mission management, integration services and its proprietary CarboNIX microsatellite separation system.
Creotech Instruments is Poland’s only company to achieve the capability to build microsatellites. In addition to the EagleEye project, the company is also part of the PIAST project, through which it plans to launch a constellation of three observation satellites in 2025, using the proprietary HyperSat platform.
In late May, the company secured a contract with the state-owned Armament Agency to carry out the “Industrial Feasibility Study of the Earth Optoelectronic Microsatellite Constellation” project, covering phases 0 and A of the constellation preparation in accordance with the ECSS (European Cooperation for Space Standardization) methodology. The project is being executed by a consortium led by Creotech and including Airbus Defence and Space, a France-based company.
