In 2020, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) signed a contract to develop a new Copernicus L-band radar observation system for Europe (ROSE-L) under the European Union's Copernicus Earth Environment Monitoring Programme. The mission will expand the current capabilities of Copernicus, the world's largest provider of Earth observation data.
"With launch planned for 2028, ROSE-L will provide continuous day and night observation of Earth's land, oceans and ice, regardless of weather conditions, from a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 690 kilometres. It will provide high-resolution images with a repeat time of three to six days, depending on the acquisition mode," said S.A.B. Aerospace in a press release, which presented progress in satellite integration at a press conference on April 29.
During its projected seven-and-a-half-year lifetime, ROSE-L will receive new data that complement and expand the capabilities of existing missions, particularly by penetrating dense vegetation and improving measurements of ground deformation. It will support forest and land cover monitoring and contribute to better carbon cycle assessment and carbon accounting. ROSE-L will also strengthen the capabilities to detect and monitor geohazards such as landslides and earthquakes and will support automatic mapping of soil surface moisture – aiding in agriculture, hydrology, weather forecasting and climate resilience. In addition, it will help monitor the dynamics of sea and land ice, especially in the Arctic and other polar regions.
The satellite will carry an advanced L-band synthetic aperture radar system provided by Airbus Defense and Space, with the largest planar radar antenna ever developed for space use – measuring 11 by 3.6 meters with a total area of approximately 40 square meters.
"Based on the contract signed in September 2021, S.A.B. Aerospace s.r.o. is in the position of the main supplier of the supply of the mechanical structure and thermal control subsystem of the satellite according to the model philosophy, which assumes a design model (SM) for mechanical qualification, a flight model prototype (PFM) and a second flight model (FM2) refurbished from the construction model. As the main contractor, SAB Aerospace s.r.o. also coordinates and manages the activities of all partners contributing to the success of the mission. These include several subcontractors and suppliers, including SAB Aerospace S.r.l. a supplier of system engineering and structural and thermal design, Invent GmbH providing the primary structure, 5M for the secondary structure CFRP, Arquimea for the radiator panels, PRIAM for the tertiary structure and FHP PT for MLI," the company further states.
In order to integrate and test structural and subsequent flight models of the ROSE-L structure, a new ISO Level 9 modular integration space with a height compatible with the integration of the satellite in a vertical position was built at the Institute of Aerospace Engineering of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Brno University of Technology with the support of Thales Alenia Space and ESA. The usable height of the new clean room reaches an impressive 14 meters and, thanks to the reinforced floor, it also allows mechanical testing of satellite parts inside the ISO 9 clean room.
"The construction of a new clean room of such dimensions is another important milestone in the involvement of the Institute of Aerospace Engineering in space activities. Cooperation with S.A.B. Aerospace opens up a new opportunity for us to participate in European Space Agency projects," says Jaroslav Juračka, Director of the Institute of Aerospace Engineering.
The integration of the structural model is currently at an advanced stage and is being finalized in preparation for mechanical static qualification. The fully completed structural model of the ROSE-L satellite will be handed over to Thales Alenia Space Italy for follow-up activities during June. At the same time, preparations have begun for the integration of the first flight model, which will be in the SAB clean room as early as the second half of 2025.