ESA awards euro 34.6 million NanoMagSat contract to Open Cosmos

ESA awards euro 34.6 million NanoMagSat contract to Open Cosmos
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Nov 28, 2024

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a euro 34.6 million contract to Open Cosmos for the development, launch, and commissioning of the NanoMagSat Scout satellite constellation. This mission aims to enhance Europe's capabilities in monitoring Earth's magnetic field and advancing applications such as space weather assessment, navigation, and directional drilling.

The NanoMagSat mission aligns with ESA's FutureEO program, which focuses on leveraging small, agile satellites to deliver innovative scientific value. NanoMagSat, a constellation of three small satellites, is designed to complement ESA's Swarm mission by offering enhanced insights into the magnetic field's dynamics and the Sun's influence on Earth's atmospheric and ionospheric systems.

ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, emphasized the significance of this development: "Today marks a significant milestone for the NanoMagSat mission, a constellation of three small satellites. Aligning with the rapid development timeline set for Scout missions, the first NanoMagSat is scheduled to launch by late 2027, followed by the other two satellites in 2028. We look forward to working with Open Cosmos and the industrial consortium to meet this ambitious schedule."

Open Cosmos, serving as the prime contractor, will lead a consortium involving partners from across Europe, including COMET-Aerospace in Spain, CEA-Leti in France, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Oslo in Norway, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, and Universite Paris Cite in France.

Rafel Jorda, CEO and co-founder of Open Cosmos, noted the mission's technological and scientific importance: "The NanoMagSat mission represents a significant leap forward in space technology and Earth observation. By miniaturising advanced instruments and employing innovative approaches, we are not only pushing the boundaries of what small satellites can achieve, but also delivering impactful solutions for understanding Earth's magnetic field and its many applications. Together with our partners and ESA, we are proud to lead this ambitious mission that will deliver valuable insights for science and industry alike."

Each NanoMagSat satellite will carry a suite of miniaturised instruments, including an absolute magnetometer and a high-frequency magnetometer mounted on a boom, a Langmuir probe for measuring electron temperature and density, and two GNSS receivers.

The data provided by NanoMagSat will support critical applications such as space weather hazard analysis, precision navigation, smartphone reference models, and the World Magnetic Model. It also promises to advance research in Earth's magnetic field dynamics and its interactions with the ionospheric environment.

Gauthier Hulot, Principal Investigator and CNRS Research Director at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, commented on the mission's scientific value: "The scientific community is ready and eager to demonstrate how such a Scout mission can contribute to further advance our understanding of the complex dynamics of Earth's magnetic field and of the ionospheric environment, beyond the many results of the very successful Earth Explorer Swarm mission."