OQ Technology has been awarded a 1.1 million euros contract to design, construct, combine, check and demo three, superior smallsats that may function a number of payloads, offering space-based, 5G, narrowband Internet-of-Things (IoT) communications providers, an optical communications hyperlink in addition to hyperspectral EO information to help precision agriculture as a part of the ERMIS mission.

ERMIS [Hellenic Cubesat Demonstration Mission] is a pathfinder demonstration of key area connectivity capabilities linked to Greece’s 200M€ nationwide small satellite tv for pc undertaking utilizing a constellation of small satellites.

OQ Technology Hellas is a subcontractor and a key member of the ERMIS consortium that’s led by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Other members of the consortium embrace the University of Patras, the University of the Aegean and the National Observatory of Athens.

ERMIS-1 and ERMIS-2 cubesats constructed by OQ Hellas will host the payloads of OQ Technology Luxembourg to display 5G internet-of-things non-terrestrial community (5G-IoT-NTN) connectivity and moreover incorporate Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) to boost its protection.

The significance of 5G expertise in satellite tv for pc IoT rests in its capability to supply high-speed, dependable, and low-latency connectivity to a variety of units, together with these in distant and tough to achieve places. In satellite tv for pc IoT, 5G expertise allows the combination of satellite tv for pc networks with terrestrial networks, making a seamless and unified community that may help a variety of functions, together with good agriculture, pipeline monitoring, transportation monitoring, and rather more. Moreover, 5G expertise allows satellite tv for pc IoT units to function in difficult environments, reminiscent of harsh climate circumstances, distant places, or catastrophe areas, the place conventional communication networks might not be out there.

Demonstrating and testing ISL for 5G IoT NTN will allow OQ Technology to supply enhanced protection and sooner speeds in delivering information to its prospects reliably and seamlessly. The two smallsats will be part of OQ Technology rising 5G NB-IoT fleet. The expertise relies on 3GPP Release 17 standardized 5G connectivity.

ERMIS-3, co-built by OQ Hellas with NKUA, will host payloads from the opposite members of the consortium to demo optical communications hyperlink and hyperspectral EO information to help precision agriculture.

The initiative underpins efforts – led by ESA on behalf of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance – to broaden the nascent area trade in Greece, enabling the digital transformation of society whereas creating jobs and producing prosperity, as a part of the nation’s EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Facility. The ERMIS 4.8 million euros undertaking is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU and by the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance.

“We are very pleased that Greece’s first small satellite constellation will be using game changing technologies in telecommunications, IoT/5G, hyperspectral imaging. A key and important aspect of our project is the cooperative nature of academia and industry leaders such as OQ. Working with a world innovator such as OQ will push national and European leadership in 5G/IoT and foster growth, new jobs and unique space applications which come with the use of 5G/IoT.” — Vaios Lappas, Department Head, Aerospace Science & Technology, University of Athens

“OQ Technology group companies are collaborating together on an European but also global level to leverage the capabilities and opportunities in these markets but also build new partnerships and skills – We work with global satellite manufacturers, nevertheless to accelerate our satellite 5G constellation deployment it is essential also to have the capability to deploy the ERMIS platforms carrying 5G NB-IoT payloads in the near future – We are very grateful to the European Space Agency (ESA) for granting our consortium the ERMIS opportunity, we are thankful to our trusted Greek consortium partners who made this proposal a success and we look forward to working together to bring ERMIS satellites to orbit soon.” — Omar Qaise, Founder and CEO, OQ Technology Group