EagleEye

Quick facts

Overview

Summary

Mission Capabilities

EagleEye is Poland’s largest satellite, which carries the SOP200 optical telescope by Scanway. This instrument has a 200 mm aperture for imaging in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) region at a ground sample distance of 1 m from a 350 km altitude.

The satellite’s onboard supercomputer developed by the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) handles image processing, compression and cloud-checking to generate imagery with AI intelligence.

Performance Specifications

EagleEye launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, on 16 August 2024 onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-11 rideshare mission.

The satellite plans to initially orbit in a Low Earth orbit (LEO) of 500 km altitude, and gradually descend down to a 300-350 km Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) at an orbital period of 97.4 minutes. EagleEye has an inclination of 97.4° and a Right Ascension Ascending Node of 22.9 hrs. The optical payload will be able to capture images of the Earth at a 1 m resolution.

Space and Hardware Components

EagleEye sits on Creotech’s HyperSat 4HU Platform, measuring 0.55 m x 1.50 m x 0.90 m after solar panel deployment. The satellite is fitted with an ion propulsion engine that will support mission requirements to transition from LEO into VLEO.

After a successful launch and separation, EagleEye established stable communication, until August 25, 2024 when the spacecraft lost contact with the ground station.

Overview

EagleEye, Poland’s largest Earth observation satellite, developed by a joint consortium of industry and science, aims to operate in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) to capture highly detailed imagery of the Earth for uses for applications including agriculture and military observation. The satellite was launched on August 16, 2024. 1) 2)

The development of EagleEye was led by Creotech Instruments S.A, who were in charge of satellite platform development, with support from Firma Scanway S.A. in developing the optical telescope, and the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) for the development of the onboard computer. Funded by the European Union and the European Regional Development Fund of the Smart Growth Development Operational Programme 2014-2020, EagleEye represents Poland’s interest in advancing a universal microsatellite platform that supports commercial compatibility and interoperability. 3) 4)

The mission aims to highlight national capability, with all components being developed in-country, allowing a chance for local enterprises to demonstrate space design, integration, and operation capabilities.

Other Polish companies that assisted in technological development include WiRan, Symkom, N7 Space, ILOT Institute of Aviation, National Center for Nuclear Research, RADMOR, Spacive, and WAMTECHNIK. 5)

Spacecraft

The EagleEye spacecraft is based on the HyperSat 4HU platform developed by Creotech Instruments S.A.  

The satellite has dimensions 0.55 m x 1.50 m x 0.90 m with full solar panel deployment, and has a mass of 55 kg. This weight class is something only a few European commercial satellite manufacturers have achieved, exhibiting Polish capability on a global level. The satellite will have an average orbital power greater than 50 W. 6) 

Launch

EagleEye launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, on the 16th of August 2024 at 20:56 Central European Time. The mission was launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-11 rideshare mission. The satellite successfully separated at 22:14 and established communication within an hour. 5) 8)

Orbit

The satellite uses an ion propulsion system to gradually descend from an initial altitude of approximately 500 km in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), down to a 300-350 km Very Low Earth orbit (VLEO) at an orbital period of 97.4 minutes. EagleEye has an inclination of 97.4° and a Right Ascension Ascending Node of 22.9 hrs. A VLEO orbit will allow the satellite to take higher quality images of the Earth. This feat presented an engineering challenge as very low orbits are more susceptible to the Earth’s atmospheric drag and gravity, requiring a unique system that allows the satellite to maintain continuous orbit orientation and altitude. 9) 10) 11) 12)

Mission Status

• August 25, 2024: Not long after establishing stable communication, EagleEye loses contact with the mission’s ground station. Current efforts are being dedicated to recovering communication. 13) 14)
• August 16, 2024: EagleEye successfully launches from a Falcon 9 rocket on SpaceX’s Transporter-11 mission from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, USA.

• February 23, 2024: The SOP200 optical telescope successfully completes ground testing, with the instrument passing its required threshold of clarity.
• January 25, 2024: The SOP200 optical telescope payload is delivered for integration and passes functional testing. 15)
• July 18, 2023: The EagleEye platform and payload undergo environmental testing to meet the mission’s launch requirements.  15)
• Apr, 2020: The development of the EagleEye mission commenced. 9)

Sensor Complement

SOP200 Optical Telescope

The 8 kg SOP200 telescope developed by Scanway will serve as a testbed for the first Polish high-resolution Earth imaging system. Based on the results of the POIR.01.01.01-00-0010/17 project, the telescope aims to reach technology certification standard Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL7), which refers to a system prototype demonstration in an operational environment. 4) 6) 15)

The telescope has a 200 mm aperture for imaging in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) bands at a ground sample distance of 1 m from a 350 km altitude.

From a 500 km orbit, the telescope has a 7.2 x 5.3 km swath, 4096 x 3072 pixel spatial resolution, and a 0.8 x 0.6 degree field of view. It will format data in 8, 10 or 12 bits and requires 5W power alongside a 12 V or 5V voltage requirement. 16) 17) 18)

Onboard Supercomputer

The Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) developed the supercomputer and stabilisation system onboard EagleEye. The supercomputer handles the processing of SOP200 imagery, and completes tasks such as compression and preliminary cloud-checks using artificial intelligence (AI). Through a data matrix, AI can classify and select images that pass a suitability test to be downlinked to Earth, e.g. whether the image is mostly obscured by clouds. The computer also communicates orbital position information through a GNSS-GPS receiver. The computer can determine orientation from an onboard star sensor. 1) 19)  

Ground Segment

The  EagleEye mission’s control centre is situated at Creotech Instruments' headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, where communication is conducted in the S-band at 64 kbits/s uplink and 1 Mbits/s downlink. 9) 21)

References  

1) "Poland launches EagleEye, its largest and most advanced satellite yet," Polskie Radio, URL: https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7784/artykul/3414879,poland-launches-eagleeye-its-largest-and-most-advanced-satellite-yet

2) Pyka A, "Poland’s largest and most advanced satellite reaches orbit," Notes From Poland, August 19, 2024, URL: https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/08/19/polands-largest-and-most-advanced-satellite-reaches-orbit/

3) "Technology Readiness Levels," NASA, September 27, 2023, URL: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/technology-readiness-levels/

4) "EagleEye microsatellite system," Creotech, URL: https://creotech.pl/notice/eagleeye-microsatellite-system

5) "EagleEye," Creotech, June 24 2024, URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20250321013248/https://eagle-launch.com/en/

6) "Polish EagleEye Satellite: A Landmark Project for the Space Sector," Creotech, URL: https://creotech.pl/news/polish-eagleeye-satellite-a-landmark-project-for-the-space-sector

7) "Statement of the Management Board on the operation of the EagleEye satellite," Creotech, URL: https://creotech.pl/news/statement-of-the-management-board-on-the-operation-of-the-eagleeye-satellite

8) "EagleEye," Gunter’s Space Page, URL: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/eagleeye.htm

9) "Historic milestone for Polish space science as they successfully launch Eagleeye satellite," Euronews, URL: https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/08/18/historic-milestone-for-polish-pace-science-as-they-successfully-launch-eagleeye-satellite

10) "EAGLEEYE / 60508 / 2024-149AS," orbit.ing-now.com, URL: https://orbit.ing-now.com/satellite/60508/2024-149as/eagleeye/

11) "SATVIEW - EAGLEEYE - Norad 60508U" SATVIEW, URL: https://www.satview.org/?sat_id=60508U

12) Ford D, "EAGLEEYE," In-The-Sky.org, URL: https://in-the-sky.org//spacecraft.php?id=60508

13) "Creotech’s EagleEye Mission Faces Challenges but Remains Hopeful," PolandDaily24.com, September 11, 2024, URL: https://polanddaily24.com/creotechs-eagleeye-mission-faces-challenges-but-remains-hopeful/science-health/46048

14) Creotech looking for remedies for failure to receive data from EagleEye satellite. https://wbj.pl/creotech-looking-for-remedies-for-failure-to-receive-data-from-eagleeye-satellite/post/143206

15) "EagleEye - mission updates", Scanway Space, January 26, 2024, URL: https://scanway.space/eagleeye-mission-updates/

16) "Scanway Optical Payload," Scanway Space, URL: https://scanway.space/sop/

17) "EagleEye," Scanway Space, URL: https://scanway.space/mission/eagleeye/

18) "Scanway Optical Payload," Scanway Space, https://scanway.space/sop/

19) "EagleEye is the first Polish satellite with such a large telescope," Science in Poland, URL: https://scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/news%2C104060%2Ceagleeye-first-polish-satellite-such-large-telescope.html

20) "Space," Creotech, URL: https://creotech.pl/space/

21) "Creotech Instruments — A leader in EEC spacetech and quantum," Edison Group, April 14, 2023, URL: https://www.edisongroup.com/research/a-leader-in-eec-spacetech-and-quantum/32193/

22) "Poland’s largest satellite launched into orbit," Polska Agencja Prasowa SA, URL:https://www.pap.pl/en/news/polands-largest-satellite-launched-orbit

23) "What is an ion engine?" Matsusada Precision, January 4 2024, URL: https://www.matsusada.com/column/ion_engine.html