Roke Manor Research Ltd.'s Gioconda industry consortium has been awarded a contract to deliver a major element of the UK MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory's 'Smallsat' CubeSat Research Programme.
A CubeSat is a type of miniaturised satellite, currently destined for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one litre (10 cm cube), a mass of little more than one kilogram and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf electronic components. CubeSats are a disruptive technology that offers the potential for rapid, low cost, short duration deployment of sensing and communications capability in Low Earth Orbit.
For this innovative research programme, Gioconda comprises Roke (a Chemring Group company) as prime, Scisys Ltd, and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. It will deliver engineering and flight-ready models (mechanically, electrically, electronically and functionally representative), software and electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) for an advanced experimental RF payload suitable for subsequent deployment in space within a CubeSat.