»For Fraunhofer, ERNST is a major milestone in space research. It will enable us to test various of our own innovations in space and gain valuable insights for further projects. Among other things, a powerful infrared camera is on board that can detect the heat emitted by launching rockets,« explains Prof. Dr. Frank Schäfer, Head of the Space Business Unit at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics EMI. »Being able to recognise missiles at an early stage is important for the security of Germany,« he adds.

Large technologies in a small space

Despite its large research tasks, ERNST is tiny. It is as small as a shoebox, but boasts numerous technological innovations. For its main task, it is equipped with a highly sensitive infrared camera. It has to be cooled to minus 160 degrees Celsius in order to deliver optimum images. An optical camera for earth observation in the visible spectral range and a radiation detector developed by Fraunhofer INT in Euskirchen are also on board. The detector measures high-energy space radiation and thus helps to analyse its influence on the electronics of small satellites. Other new technologies include the 3D-printed metal mount for the camera components, a data processing unit on which satellite images can also be analysed using artificial intelligence and a deployable brake sail. The sail ensures that ERNST enters the atmosphere more quickly at the end of its mission and burns up there. In this way, space debris is avoided and the orbit is utilised sustainably.

The satellite platform could deliver valuable results for both military and civilian research tasks. ‘It is conceivable, for example, that we could also use ERNST in the future to detect forest fires at an early stage,’ says Schäfer.

ERNST is the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's first small satellite. It was developed under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics EMI in Freiburg. The Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analyses INT and the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB were also involved.

To date, Germany has hardly been represented on the global market for satellites: Last year, only five of over 2500 satellites launched came from Germany. The majority of satellites fall into the small satellite size category. The satellite platform developed in Freiburg therefore also helps German companies to launch their technologies and sensors into space.

ERNST stands for »Experimental Space Applications Based on Nanosatellite Technology«.