BALTIMORE – Grasp Global’s instrument is monitoring atmospheric aerosols in orbit.
Grasp’s multi-angle, multispectral polarimeter, known as GAPMAP-0, was launched in April 2023 on an Austrian technology demonstration cubesat.
GAPMAP, the “only privately developed payload of its kind,” is retrieving atmospheric-composition products for air-quality applications, said Grasp CEO David Fuertes. “This progress validates our mission and serves as a guiding light for its future.”
Constellation Plans
Based on the instrument’s performance, Grasp is moving ahead with plans to establish a 10-satellite constellation by 2028.
Each cubesat will “surpass conventional space radiometers” by collecting data “with multiple viewing angles and polarization,” according to Grasp’s Jan. 12 news release. Scene of Earth will be collected in four wavelengths, five viewing angles and three polarization states. The goal is to provide high-quality observations of atmospheric particulates, clouds and surface properties.
In 2022, French startup Grasp SA acquired Baltimore-based AirPhoton to create a European and U.S. Earth-observation company.
Grasp provides software and remote-sensing services to the European Space Agency, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and others. The French Space Agency CNES has purchased GAPMAP-0 data.
Baltimore-based AirPhoton specializes in satellite payloads and in-situ ground and airborne instruments to measure particulates.
HARP Heritage
The GAPMAP instrument is based on technology developed by Vanderlei Martins, Grasp chief technology officer, and colleagues in Maryland. Martins was the principal investigator for NASA’s Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) cubesat launched in 2019.
“Seeing our vision materialize is very gratifying, not only for current but also for the coming results,” Vanderlei said in a statement.
GAPMAP, housed in the three-unit Austrian Debris Detection Low Earth (orbit) Reconnoiter (ADLER 2) cubesat, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The cubesat was developed and is being operated by the Austrian Space Forum, Spire Global and Findus Ventures GmbH.
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