Φsat-2
Purpose:
Φsat-2 is a 6U satellite developed by ESA with Open Cosmos as the prime contractor and launched in August 2024. The mission demonstrates the benefits of using AI paired with a multispectral instrument that captures images across seven bands, from visible to near-infrared, for Earth observation. These AI capabilities enable real-time data processing, optimizing both the quality and quantity of data sent back to Earth.
KP Labs' Role:
• Developed a CNN-based algorithm to automatically detect and discard cloud-covered images, ensuring only clear, usable images are downlinked to Earth.
• Reduced data transmission requirements by filtering out irrelevant, cloud-obscured data, enhancing data efficiency.
• Applied 8-bit quantization to decrease model size and inference time, making the algorithm compatible with CubeSat hardware constraints.