Polish Company Involved in the JUICE Mission
Astri Polska engineers are working on solutions that are to be applied in case of the JUICE probe, which is the ESA’s flagship project assuming that Jupiter and its three icy moons would become a subject to closer scrutiny. The software and the electronics that are to be delivered by the Warsaw-based company would make it possible to test the probe before it is launched.
JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) remains one of the main projects within the ESA’s “Cosmic Vision 2015-2025” long-term plan. JUICE probe is to reach the Jupiter (2030), and throughout at least 3 years it should carry out detailed observations of the gas giant and its three icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The probe is to be launched in 2022. Airbus Defence and Space remains the main contractor within the project.
Astri Polska would be tasked with delivering software (Real Time Simulation) and two units of Electronical Ground Equipment (Simulation Front End). The aforesaid solutions will allow the user to carry out tests concerning the probe’s electronics, and have an insight in the operation of its equipment. The tests are to take place before the probe is sent into the orbit, thanks to which it would remain possible to introduce potential modifications to its systems. The solutions will be delivered later, in 2018.
Astri Polska’s involvement in the JUICE project is a result of positively acclaimed hand-offs of our former jobs pursued for ESA. We are happy with the fact that we may participate in more and more ESA programmes, including the flagship ones.
JUICE is not the sole project implemented by Astri Polska for ESA. When it comes to the electronic ground support systems, the company is working on hardware for NeoSat or MetOp-SG missions. When it comes to the satellite navigation, Astri Polska is involved in ESA’s AGGA-4, TecHNO and FLiGHT projects, within which the company would test GNSS receiver, also designing a test environment for GNSS receivers and hybrid navigation systems.