By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The cube satellite developed by the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) in partnership with ArkEdge Space Inc and the University of Tokyo’s Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory last week won the Small Satellite Mission of the Year Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

ONGLAISAT, an acronym for onboard globe-looking and imaging satellite, is a 6U Earth observation satellite measuring 10cm by 20cm by 30cm.

TASA developed the optical remote-sensing payload, while the Japanese side handled the satellite platform, launch arrangements and satellite operations.

Photo: CNA

The mission was to validate technologies related to the design and manufacturing of a new optical payload, as well as image processing.

The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station into low Earth orbit on Dec. 9, 2024. It conducted more than 100 imaging operations over about two months after completing initial operations last year.

The development team presented the technology and the imagery captured by ONGLAISAT at the Small Satellite Conference in the US last week, where the AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee awarded it the Small Satellite Mission of the Year Award, TASA said.

By integrating a high-precision attitude determination and control system with an advanced optical remote-sensing system, ONGLAISAT successfully captured Earth observation imagery with a ground resolution of 2.44m, TASA said.

Using time-delay integration imaging technology, it achieved a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 100, demonstrating the potential of small, low-cost satellites to perform high-resolution optical Earth observation missions, it added.

The mission was a milestone for the commercialization of global micro-satellite constellations and high-frequency, high-resolution Earth observation, it said.

The mission proved that advanced optical and imaging-control technologies can operate even on 6U cube satellites, whereas such cutting-edge technologies previously would had to be a part of large, high-cost remote-sensing satellites, TASA said.