Mission

In UWE-5, two cubesats with 3U formfactors featuring a a primary Ka-band communications relay payload are being developed, enabling high data rate communication uncommon in satellites of this small size.

facilitate a stable and efficient connection to two ground stations at the same time, patch antennas with beam steering capabilities are employed, together with an advanced Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for fine pointing. Software simulations and numerical analysis confirm an Absolute Attitude Knowledge Error (AKE) below $1^\circ$ and an Absolute Performance Error (APE) within $\pm 1.5^\circ$ of the target. In addition, the UWE-5 satellites will perform Inter-Satellite-Link (ISL) tests using LoRa communication. As a secondary payload, a processing unit for payload data based on the Microchip PolarFire SOC FPGA series will be validated on-orbit. This payload computer will analyze images taken by cameras on board the satellite using machine learning inference in order to pre-select relevant images and reduce strain on downlink- and storage capabilities.