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The Hungarian CubeSat satellite, called VIREO (Virtual Intelligence Realization for Earth Observation), launched last April, successfully completed its mission on Wednesday, having burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere, urvilag.hu reported.
VIREO was designed to use artificial intelligence (AI) in space, extending its in-flight processing capabilities. The portal recalled that VIREO’s placement to the orbit was special. It spent more than a month on board an orbital transport vehicle to find the optimal orbit. The launch vehicle successfully reached its destination, and VIREO immediately settled into its proper orbit and continued its Earth observation experiments without a hitch.
A number of space experiments have been carried out on board VIREO, most notably a joint development with the Hungarian aiMotive’s team. This involved processing image data captured by the satellite’s cameras in space using AI-based image processing algorithms.
A novelty was that a payload control subsystem developed in-house was tested in the 10×10×10 cm cargo bay by C3S Ltd. This will support future CubeSat projects. They are also prepared for future Earth observation missions. A number of imaging techniques were demonstrated with four different types of cameras launched into space. CubeSat has captured breathtaking images of different parts of the Earth during its 16-month mission.
“Although the mission has come to an end, the success of VIREO has demonstrated that AI technology can make Earth observation faster and more efficient, which can lead to advances in sectors such as agriculture, disaster management and energy production. Images from space can be used to quickly and accurately track changes in the Earth’s surface and unexpected events.
Further development of the method could also pave the way for areas such as better coordination of satellite fleets, bringing the internet to remote areas, asteroid mining, reducing space debris or the success of very remote space missions,”
they wrote. For the IOD (In Orbit Demonstration) mission, the 3U CubeSat was developed and manufactured by C3S Ltd. and the launch was also managed by the Hungarian space company. The satellite entered the atmosphere at New Zealand at around 12:00 p.m. on August 7, 2024, after passing over Hungary, and was destroyed.
Via MTI, Featured image: Wikipedia / Ron Garan, NASA