Irix 300SR

Designed for the Polish Earth observation nanosatellite Swiatowid.

The Irix 300SR will be the first Irix lens designed especially for nanosatellites observing the Earth.  This lens project is a response to the rapidly growing space market’s demand for top-class optics for small observation satellites.

Thanks to very close cooperation with the Polish company SatRevoution, the first experimental prototype of this lens will be the main optical section of the Swiatowid nanosatellite, and will be launched into a low Earth orbit (LEO) on April 17, 2019.

The lens

The 300SR lens is designed with cooperation of the European Irix R&D Centre located in Krakow (Poland), which deals with research for the innovative materials and solutions to be used in the future Irix space ready lens.

The lens is made entirely based on NASA guidelines for spacecraft and their payloads. These guidelines relate to materials and technologies that have been laboratory-tested and experimentally verified during space missions.

The satellite

Swiatowid is the first Polish commercial observation satellite made by SatRevolution, a company located in Wroclaw (Poland).

The company has a plan to create a constellation of up to hundreds of similar nanosatellites that will, in the near future, provide high resolution images of the Earth’s surface in real time.

Laboratory tests

Thanks to the use of innovative technologies and modular optical system, the lens may be used on satellites equipped with an image sensor resolution up to 35 megapixels. The laboratory simulations have shown that the Irix 300SR will be able to provide high resolution images of the Earth’s surface.

High-resolution Earth imagery

The role of Irix 300SR is to provide high quality image for the satellite’s camera which is equipped with a 5.1 megapixel resolution CMOS sensor with resolution of 5.1 megapixels. The Earth photographs taken with a GSD 4.7m resolution can be used in the future in such projects as: Urban Planning, Land Surveying, Smart Cities and Natural Disasters Monitoring.

Designed to be tough

Spacecraft and equipment operating in outer space must be always verified in terms of safety of the space mission. They are subjectect of rigorous test procedures developed by NASA. The tests include resistance to strong g-forces and any mechanical and acoustic vibrations that occurr during the launch of the rocket. Additional tests also check resistance to extreme temperatures, strong UV radiation and the ultra-high vacuum of outer space.

Ready for test in outer space

With the lens, the satellite will be delivered to the International Space Station via the NanoRacks company as part of the Cygnus NG-11 resupply mission. The launch of the Antares 230 rocket is planned for April 17, 2019 at 4:00 PM from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops, Virginia (US).