Innalabs are delighted to have our ARIETIS-NS gyroscope navigation system on board the European Space Agency ‘HERA’ journey into the stars, which will act as an integral part of guiding the satellite towards the Didymos asteroid system for its mission. ESA's ‘HERA’ Spacecraft is set to launch on the 7th of October 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
This will mark the second mission to the Didymos asteroid system, with the objective of the HERA mission set to monitor the after-effects of altering the trajectory of asteroids through kinetic impact, following on from the successful ‘DART’ mission from NASA, which launched in 2021. The collective aim of these missions is to have contingency plans in place for planetary defence for humanity from incoming asteroids to alter their trajectory, should the day ever come when Earth needs to do so.
Four years on from NASA’s mission, ‘HERA’ will land directly on the asteroid to analyse the result and effects of the ‘DART’ mission. ‘HERA’ will also mark the very first time that the subsurface and internal structures of an asteroid will be measured. The ARIETIS-NS will play an integral part in this mission, acting as the gyroscope guiding the satellite on its journey toward the Didymos asteroid system. InnaLabs® will gain its space heritage after years of tireless work to develop the gyroscope.
What makes the ARIETIS-NS so special?
ARIETIS-NS, an ITAR-free and space-qualified gyroscope system, covers a wide variety of applications from earth observation to telecom, and space exploration. Built to withstand the harsh conditions of space, this gyroscope has been developed and fully qualified as per a mix of ESA and IPC standards, which allows us at InnaLabs® to adjust to whatever requirements are demanded by the customer. Successful flight models have already been delivered to multiple customers.
We live in an age where broadband services are constantly in ever-increasing demand across the globe, with a growing fleet of satellites needing to be sent out to facilitate this expanding broadband network, and the ARIETIS-NS gyroscope has been crafted to aid this growing demand.
The benefits of this cost-effective, highly efficient gyroscope are:
- ARIETIS-NS is a low-SWaP (Size, Weight, and Power) solution, allowing its use from small satellite platforms to multi-ton satellites
- ARIETIS-NS, thanks to Innalabs proprietary CVG technology, has incredibly low noise, allowing us in both telecom as well as Earth Observation and Science application
- ARIETIS-NS has very high reliability, allowing for continuous use in both LEO and GEO mission
- ARIETIS-NS was designed and industrialised for serial production, allowing its use on large constellations
Want to learn more about the ARIETIS-NS?
See our full documentation on ARIETIS-NS, or reach out to our sales team to find out how this product from InnaLabs® can help you.
