Hera Mission Industry day Contribution ID: 23 Type: Presentation

Argotec Company Presentation Monday, 4 February 2019 15:15 (15 minutes)

Company profile Argotec is an aerospace engineering company founded in 2008 in which research, innovation, and develop- ment involve various fields: engineering, information technology, systems integration, design and production of satellite platforms, “Human Space Flight and Operation” as well as implementation of solutions in the field of renewable energy. All these activities have the same objective: realization of systems for space with poten- tial Earth applications. In fact, according to the company’s vision, everything that is useful for space activities can have an Earth application, bringing benefits in daily life and responding to needs not. yetmet All Argotec’s activities are focused in two main directions. The first one regards the development of microsatel- lites able to work in Deep Space; in this area, intense research and development activities are oriented to design compact and reliable technological solutions including using of Artificial Intelligence for autonomous opera- tions. The second direction includes the development of technological solutions in order to improve andto support the life and the comfort of future space explorers. Argotec is a UNI EN 9100:2018 and UNI ISO EN 9001:2015 certified company, and compliant with the ECSS and NASA standards framework. Moreover, the company has the experience, the tools and the laboratories needed to perform all of the activities required for design, integration and testing of space systems in house (e.g. a Clean Room that guarantees cleanliness standard at an ISO 5 level, a Thermal Vacuum chamber, etc). Since the beginning, the company has always collaborated with the main international space agencies such as the (ASI), the (ESA) and NASA. It had promoted the develop- ment of innovative technologies which involved universities, research centres and other companies with skills and different backgrounds. This has been substantially translated into partnerships with companies coming from fields other than aerospace. It allowed the realization of innovative systems in order to obtain several patents and international awards. In recent years Argotec has demonstrated its excellence at a national and international level thanks to its dynamic and flexible working methods supported by a young team of professionals with an average ageof 29 years. These aspects have allowed a reduction in the time for the development of company activities and the opportunity to find alternative solutions as compared to current standard processes. This has helpedto increase competitiveness and to facilitate achieving the objectives in advance of projected timetable due dates. Products and services Argotec’s activities follow the “all in-house” concept that includes design & development, integration, qualifi- cation and operations services. The company is equipped with an Electronics Lab, a Thermal and Mechanical Laboratory, a Thermal Vacuum Chamber and a Clean Room that guarantees cleanliness standards according to an ISO 5 level and a Mission Control Centre connected to the NASA and ESA Ground Segment. Argotec makes available the company’s facilities to other companies as well as universities and research institutions that are interested in integration activities requiring high levels of quality and environmental monitoring. Argotec has the internal expertise to develop microsatellite platforms from the concept to the design, assem- bly, integration, testing and in-orbit operations. The Argotec platforms are designed to operate in Deep Space for Exploration Missions and as part of Telecom constellations: they are equipped with highly-reliable and rad-hard electronic components while they guarantee large room for payload allocation (2U for the 6U version and >4U for the 12U version) and an integrated propulsion system. Argotec is also working on advanced algo- rithms based on Artificial Intelligence to increase the capabilities of the platform during on-orbit autonomous navigation. This feature helps the satellites to handle off-nominal events by executing a series ofcomplex tasks without the involvement of the Ground Segment. Argotec’s Avionics Unit designs and tests space-capable electronic systems. It operates at every level of the development process; its heritage spreads from LEO applications flown on the ISS to systems designed for deep-space. Usually both hardware and software are designed internally by our team aiming for theopti- mal implementation. As for the hardware side, the core products include Electrical Power Subsystems and On-Board Computers. From the software perspective, the Unit works on FPGA “Robust” IP Cores, wholeOn- Board Software solution and AI-based control algorithms. Argotec develops and supports the development of payloads for human space flight and space exploration. The company deals with the following HW and SW payload activities: design, development, assembly, in- tegration, testing, on-orbit operations, logistic and safety support. Argotec has recently awarded a 3-year service contract (UTISS) to support the Italian Space Agency to fly payloads on-board the ISS. In the frame of this contract Argotec is in charge of supporting the management of the Italian ISS resources, interfacing the experiments Principal Investigators and Payload Developers and overseeing the safety evaluation of all Italian payloads. Furthermore, Argotec coordinates the technical team supporting the payload development and supports the payload manifesting process and qualification process leading towards a safe and efficient delivery, utilization and recovery of the payload. The company offers custom solutions based on passive thermal exchange for thermal management bothfor ground and space applications. Argotec’s heritage in the field of two-phase heat transfer devices includes the design, development and qualification of heat pipes, loop heat pipes, and pulsating heat pipes. Argotec’s instructors, certified by NASA and/or ESA, train the astronauts at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne.

Primary author: COTUGNO, Biagio (Argotec srl) Co-author: Mr DI TANA, Valerio (Argotec srl) Presenter: COTUGNO, Biagio (Argotec srl) Session Classification: Industries presentations