PRETTY, developed jointly by TU Graz, Beyond Gravity Austria, and Seibersdorf Laboratories, has orbited for over two years in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude just over 500 kilometres, tracking polar ice, sea levels, and space weather effects on satellite lifespan. The original mission, planned for one year, has now been extended until December 2026, with funding of 365,000 euros provided by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and ESA.
Project management and ground operations will shift from Beyond Gravity to TU Graz, which will operate the satellite as part of the European Space Agency's OPS-SAT Space Lab experimental program. The satellite will serve as a flexible experimental platform, giving organizations and researchers the opportunity to test software and firmware during live mission conditions.
Project Manager Manuela Wenger from TU Graz said, "Although the original PRETTY mission was designed to last just one year, we are delighted that our satellite can now continue to provide valuable services." Wenger works alongside Andreas Hormer and Maximilian Henkel on the TU Graz team. Wenger added, "PRETTY has proven to be very reliable after OPS-SAT and TUGSAT-1, the first Austrian satellite in space, which we also built at TU Graz."
PRETTY's primary scientific payload is a passive reflectometer developed by Beyond Gravity, designed to capture and analyze signals reflected by ice, water, and land. "We tested a brand new technology in space for the first time and proved that important climate data can be obtained with a mini-satellite the size of a shoebox, which would otherwise require a much larger and more expensive satellite," stated Beyond Gravity systems engineer Andreas Dielacher. Data from PRETTY is relayed from the TU Graz ground station to research teams worldwide.
The satellite is also equipped with the SATDOS dosimeter from Seibersdorf Laboratories, which monitors radiation exposure and its effects on electronics. "Thanks to SATDOS, we were able to collect detailed radiation data directly from PRETTY's orbit for the first time," said Seibersdorf project manager Christoph Tscherne.
"Our results show that radiation exposure in space can have a significant impact on satellite electronics. Commercially available standard components, which are increasingly being used in spaceflight, are particularly vulnerable."
Related Links
Graz University of Technology
Space Technology News - Applications and Research
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