Adelaide-based AICRAFT will develop electronics for synthetic aperture radar EO satellite missions.
The AI company has begun a project to design front-end electronics for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with a low-power analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) that will connects directly to AICRAFT’s Pulsar Pro edge computing device.
The work is being done in collaboration with Flinders University at the Factory of the Future facility in the Tonsley Innovation District and is supported by the South Australian Government’s Manufacturing Growth Accelerator program.
AICRAFT’s aim of the project is to beyond it’s edge computing capabilities and enable full-accuracy data acquisition and real-time signal processing directly aboard satellites.
Both the electronics package and Pulsar Pro will integrate with a lightweight and compact SAR antenna developed by partner Guerin Technologies in India.
Some of the work will be designed and manufactured jointly with Flinders University researchers.
“Our journey with Flinders University — from residency at the New Venture Institute to employing Flinders graduates and now launching this research program — reflects a partnership that continues to grow in strength,” said Dr Tony Scoleri, CEO of AICRAFT.
“Now we are developing a disruptive capability that meets the increasing demand for real-time information, with a solution compact enough to operate on 100 Kg-class satellites instead of multi-tonne platforms.”
A demonstration of the system is planned for the second quarter of 2027, whereby the electronics will be incorporated into a satellite platform for in-orbit validation.
AICRAFT and Guerin Technologies have worked together before. Back in 2024, AICRAFT secured $100,000 from the South Australian Space Collaboration and Innovation Fund to develop what it said at the time would be the smallest satellite-based SAR payload with the fastest onboard data processing unit.
That payload was being developed as part of a project called ‘Leoflect,’ which was to combine AICRAFT’s edge computing processor with a lightweight antenna from Guerin Technologies.
