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Hera’s CubeSat deployment process
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The company’s inter-satellite links (ISLs) became an integral part of the Proba-3 mission, which is scheduled to be launched in November this year. In the meantime, came the Hera mission, which begged the question: if ISLs worked so well for two spacecraft, could they be made to work for three?
Systems engineer Paolo Concari, based at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre, worked on adapting ISL technology for both Proba-3 and Hera: “For Proba-3 it was a matter firstly of simplifying the electrical design, then to qualify the components used for the harsh environment of space, which involved a lot of radiation testing.”