📋 Tender Overview
Satellite instrument SmallCAT will be tested for the first time in space early next year. The Dutch technical masterpiece travels on board the Norwegian satellite NORSAT-TD. The instrument enables laser communication a new technology that makes eavesdropping impossible. Defense also has an interest and makes a financial contribution from the knowledge and innovation budget of the Directorate General Policy. SmallCATs technology uses laser instead of radio signals to transmit information from space to Earth. There is a lot of interest in the new technology because it allows satellites to transmit larger amounts of information faster and more securely. Lasers unlike radio signals are actually impossible to eavesdrop says Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Buijs head of the Space section at the Air Space Warfare Center.Military operationsIn preparation for the launch Dutch companies and institutions are working on a ground station for laser communication. This station must be able to send and receive information. Buijs Not only civil companies benefit from the secure transmission of information the armed forces also hope to use it for military operations in the future. This could for example concern communication between a headquarters and ship or between aircraft networks. Defense has been focusing on space for some time. Developments in this domain have major consequences for security the economy and prosperity. The armed forces want to counter threats with a stronger environmental awareness in space and a strong information position.TNO developed SmallCATSmallCAT was developed by TNO within the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems ARTES program of the European Space Agency with support from the Netherlands Space Office. This enables the space industry to explore innovative concepts and produce advanced products and services for satellite communications.
