We are delighted to announce that SuperSharp has been appointed coordinator of THEOSCOPE. Funded by a €4m grant from the European Union Horizon Programme, we will be working alongside leading organisations in Bulgaria and Portugal to develop breakthrough space-based thermal infrared (TIR) technology.
Thermal data tells us so much about our world, but today’s Earth observation systems can’t deliver it quickly or in enough detail. THEOSCOPE is designed to change that. At its heart is SPIRIT, the Sharp Panoramic Infra-Red In-orbit Telescope. Designed and built by our team in Cambridge, it will deliver up to ten times the performance of current products, at lower cost.
We are proud to be working alongside EnduroSat, which brings its serial-production FRAME S satellite platform to the mission, and the Universidade de Coimbra, which is meeting with planners, farmers and emergency services to make sure SPIRIT meets real-world needs. Every major component is designed, built and tested in Europe, supporting EU strategic autonomy in space.
The THEOSCOPE project is also developing a GPU-enabled edge computer capable of 248 TOPS, which is more than twice the rate of most Earth observation satellites. It will process imagery on board and spot anomalies such as fires, leaks, crop stress and out-of-position vessels. This means alerts can be sent to operators and first responders within 30 minutes of an image being captured, less than half the time it takes today.
CEO Elizabeth Seward said: “Our aim is to provide data that hasn’t existed before and make thermal imaging more useful and accessible. This technology can help us boost productivity, cut household energy bills, improve crop yields and better respond to emergency situations.”
For more on the THEOSCOPE capabilities, visit the mission configurator: https://configurator.endurosat.com/
