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Every technology this platform builds with, layer by layer, from the open taxonomy. Marked in red: what is moving now, each traced to its source.

Areas · 6 Technologies · 196 Industries · 10

Specification

Take the station apart.

Every part is a class we source, wire and test before the station ships. Select a part in the drawing or a row of the sheet and the other follows. Switch on Dimensions to measure it.

01The layered map

Layer by layer, from the open taxonomy.

Each domain this platform draws on, with its layers and the technologies in each. Open a layer for what each technology does and the standard behind it.

Satellite and space systems

The space segment end to end: orbits and constellations, spacecraft buses, communications and Earth observation payloads, inter-satellite links, tracking and command, space safety, launch, and the licensing and filings that let a system operate over a site.

Orbits and constellations

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 2 · Standards · 12

• LEO broadband constellations
• MEO constellations
• GEO high-throughput satellites
• HEO (Molniya and Tundra-type) orbits
• Sun-synchronous and polar orbits for EO
• Constellation design and coverage analysis
• HAPS and HIBS stratospheric platforms
• Very low Earth orbit (VLEO)

Spacecraft buses and platforms

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 17

• Smallsat and CubeSat platforms
• Electrical power subsystems
• Attitude and orbit control
• Propulsion (chemical, electric, low-toxicity)
• On-board data handling and avionics buses
• Thermal control and structures
• Radiation effects and EEE parts
• Environmental verification
• Flight software and software-defined satellites

Communications payloads, NTN and direct-to-device

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 3 · Standards · 17

• Transparent (bent-pipe) payloads
• Regenerative payloads and on-board processing
• Multibeam and digitally beamformed payloads
• 5G NR over satellite (NR-NTN)
• IoT over satellite (NB-IoT and LTE-M NTN)
• Direct-to-device in mobile bands
• Mobile satellite services in L and S band
• Store-and-forward satellite IoT
• Satellite broadcast and multicast

Inter-satellite and space-to-ground links

Technologies · 7 · Frontier · 4 · Standards · 12

• RF inter-satellite links
• Optical inter-satellite links
• Optical space-to-ground links
• Pointing, acquisition and tracking
• Space networking and delay-tolerant routing
• GEO data relay for LEO missions
• Space-based quantum key distribution

Earth observation payload classes

Technologies · 10 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 16

• Multispectral optical imagers
• Hyperspectral imagers
• Synthetic aperture radar (X, C, L band)
• Thermal infrared and fire detection
• Atmospheric and greenhouse gas sounders
• GNSS radio occultation and reflectometry
• Space-based AIS and ADS-B reception
• RF spectrum sensing from orbit
• Lidar and radar altimetry
• On-board processing and AI for EO

Tracking, telemetry and command and space safety

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 17

• TT&C radio links
• Telemetry and telecommand protocols
• Ranging and orbit determination
• Space link security
• Conjunction assessment and collision avoidance
• Space situational awareness sensing
• Space weather monitoring
• Debris mitigation and end-of-life disposal
• Rendezvous, proximity operations and on-orbit servicing

Launch, licensing and regulation

Technologies · 8 · Standards · 18

• Launch and rideshare integration
• ITU filings: advance publication, coordination, notification
• NGSO–GSO sharing and EPFD
• Landing rights and market access
• Remote sensing licensing
• International space law and registration
• Export controls for space items
• Space sustainability frameworks

Frontier and research

Technologies · 6 · Frontier · 6 · Standards · 10

• 6G integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks
• Orbital edge computing
• Lunar and cislunar communications and navigation
• Autonomous constellation operations
• Space-based solar power
• In-space assembly and manufacturing

Ground segment

Everything on the ground that talks to spacecraft: gateways and teleports, user terminals, modems and software-defined radio, shared antenna networks, CCSDS protocol stacks, mission control, data processing and the spectrum coordination behind each earth station.

Gateways and teleports

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 15

• NGSO gateway sites
• GEO teleports and hub earth stations
• RF chain: LNA, LNB, BUC and high-power amplifiers
• Site diversity and rain-fade mitigation
• Adaptive coding and modulation
• Teleport facilities, power and lightning protection
• Gateway-to-core interconnection
• Optical ground stations

User terminals

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 18

• Electronically steered flat-panel terminals
• Parabolic VSAT terminals
• Maritime terminals
• Aeronautical terminals
• Land-mobile and communications-on-the-move
• IoT and low-power satellite terminals
• Multi-orbit and hybrid terrestrial terminals
• Terminal installation and electrical safety
• Handheld and smartphone satellite access

Baseband, modems and software-defined radio

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 14

• DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X forward links
• DVB-RCS2 return links
• CCSDS modulation and channel coding
• Software-defined radio platforms
• Digital IF and RF-over-IP
• Virtualised and cloud-native modems
• Carrier identification
• NTN gNB and core functions at gateways

Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Technologies · 7 · Standards · 12

• Shared antenna networks
• Space link extension services
• Pass scheduling and resource management
• High-latitude and polar ground sites
• Ground segment cybersecurity
• Federated and hybrid ground networks
• Data delivery to cloud and edge

CCSDS protocol stacks

Technologies · 9 · Standards · 22

• Synchronisation and channel coding
• Space data link protocols
• Space packets and encapsulation
• File delivery
• Delay and disruption tolerant networking
• Space data link security
• Telemetry and command databases
• Navigation data messages
• Data compression

Mission control and flight dynamics

Technologies · 7 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 12

• Mission control systems
• Flight dynamics
• Constellation operations automation
• Payload planning and tasking
• Anomaly detection and spacecraft health analytics
• Operations security and access control
• Operational simulators and digital twins

Data downlink, processing and distribution

Technologies · 8 · Standards · 14

• Level-0 to Level-2 processing chains
• Analysis-ready data production
• Catalogues and discovery
• Cloud-native geospatial formats
• Calibration and validation
• Low-latency tasking-to-delivery pipelines
• Data licensing and access control
• Processing at the antenna edge

Earth station spectrum coordination and interference

Technologies · 7 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 13

• Earth station licensing and coordination
• NGSO–GSO interference analysis
• Propagation modelling
• Interference detection and geolocation
• Cross-border coordination
• Protection of radio astronomy and science services
• Satellite and terrestrial spectrum sharing

Remote sensing and Earth observation

Every platform, sensor, processing level and ground-segment step that turns remote measurements of the Earth into calibrated, analysis-ready evidence for a site, a region or a network.

Platforms and orbits

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 15

• Geostationary imagers and sounders
• Low Earth orbit sun-synchronous missions
• Small satellite constellations
• High-altitude platform stations (HAPS)
• Crewed survey aircraft
• Drones and remotely piloted aircraft
• Tethered aerostats and balloon soundings
• Ground-based remote sensing

Optical, spectral and thermal sensors

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 12

• Panchromatic and very high resolution optical
• Multispectral imagers
• Hyperspectral imaging spectrometers
• Thermal infrared imagers
• Stereo, tri-stereo and video capture
• Ocean colour and aquatic reflectance
• Low-light and night-time imaging
• Solar-induced fluorescence

Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Technologies · 10 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 16

• Synthetic aperture radar by band (P, L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka)
• Interferometric SAR (InSAR)
• Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR)
• Ocean radar backscatter and scatterometry
• Radar altimetry
• Lidar (airborne, drone and spaceborne)
• Passive microwave radiometry
• GNSS radio occultation
• GNSS reflectometry
• Atmospheric sounders and composition instruments

Processing levels and analysis-ready data

Technologies · 9 · Standards · 16

• Level 0: raw instrument data
• Level 1: calibrated and geolocated
• Level 2: geophysical variables
• Levels 3 and 4: gridded, composited and modelled
• CEOS analysis-ready data
• Atmospheric, terrain and radiometric terrain correction
• Cloud, shadow and quality masking
• Onboard and ground compression
• Product metadata and lineage

Calibration and validation

Technologies · 8 · Standards · 14

• Pre-flight and onboard calibration
• Vicarious calibration and test sites
• Inter-calibration of satellite instruments
• Fiducial reference measurements
• SAR calibration targets
• Geometric accuracy and ground control
• Product validation stages
• In situ match-up networks

Tasking, ground segment and access

Technologies · 9 · Frontier · 1 · Standards · 17

• Tasking, mission planning and revisit analysis
• Orbit and conjunction data
• Ground stations and downlink
• Space link extension and station networking
• Direct broadcast and edge processing
• Optical ground stations
• Ground segment security
• Licensing and remote sensing law
• Disaster activation and rapid mapping

Data cubes, analysis and archives

Technologies · 7 · Standards · 14

• EO data cubes
• Imagery catalogues
• Time-series analysis
• Essential climate, ocean and biodiversity variables
• Fusion with in situ data and models
• Long-term archive and preservation
• Commercial and open data licensing

Frontier and research

Technologies · 8 · Frontier · 8 · Standards · 9

• Onboard AI and in-orbit processing
• Optical inter-satellite links and data relay
• High-revisit SAR and high-resolution thermal constellations
• Imaging spectroscopy constellations
• Greenhouse gas point-source detection
• EO foundation models and embeddings
• Quantum and cold-atom gravimetry
• Digital twins of the Earth

02Across the network

The whole spectrum, on the main site.

03On this site

Where to go next.

Bring us the site.

We bring the survey, the design and the crew. The form names who receives your details.

More presentations

See it from every side.

Each opens as a full-screen presentation: deeper pages on the same subject, explainers, stories, guided tours of the places, network scenes and the observatories that came before.

In depth

Explainers