Lilium CubeSats for Smart Remote Sensing and Ku-Band Communication

The benefits of low-cost, short-development-time, and acceptable mission-risk have stimulated a rapid growth of CubeSats in the past ten years. Many universities, research organizations, and companies have adopted such standardized platforms for technology development and commercial applications. Consequently, the demand for performance enhancement of CubeSats is also increasing. The Tilium CubeSats are conceived for the development and demonstration of two key enabling techniques: smart remote sensing and high data-rate communication. The inclusion of artificial intelligence into remote sensing payload to balance the needs on image processing and transmission is pursued. To this end, an intelligent remote sensing payload for CubeSat is developed. The payload contains a high focal-length telescope, a CMOS detector, and the data processing board. The processing board is embedded with processing power for artificial intelligence applications. Light weight models for cloud segmentation and object detection have been trained to be tested in orbit. The high data rate capability is realized through Ku band communication in which an antenna array is adopted for beam forming. A software defined radio approach is adopted and integrated with the antenna for the purpose of demonstration. The above key smart remote sensing and high data rate communication technologies are integrated into the Lilium CubeSats. Three Lilium CubSats are developed to this end. The first Lilium-1 CubeSat has been launched in December, 2023 and the key remote sensing and communication functions have been verified and validated. The Lilimn-2 and Lilium-3 CubeSats which are 6-unit CubeSats will be launched in 2025 to perform Ku band communication between space and ground and integration of remote sensing function and communication function to exploit the advantage of edge computer and software defined radio in space.