ASTRAWARE PROJECT AWARDED PATHFINDER GRANT FROM THE EUROPEAN INNOVATION COUNCIL
The AstrAware project (An On-board Dynamic Vision Sensor Suite for Enhanced Satellite Self and Situational Awareness), funded under HORIZON-EIC-2024-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES, officially kicked off on October 1st.
The 2025 AstrAware project pioneers a new approach to detecting and tracking the rapidly growing population of objects in low Earth orbit.
By processing data directly onboard satellites, AstrAware can leverage the benefits of a distributed space segment and enables the detection of smaller objects that often go unnoticed by typical ground-based sensors, whose performance is limited by atmospheric interference and power consumption.
At the heart of the project is the combination of novel data processing techniques with both conventional sensors and emerging neuromorphic cameras.
These innovative sensors, inspired by the human eye, deliver major advantages: extremely high dynamic range, microsecond-level sampling speeds, and dramatically reduced power consumption compared to traditional optical alternatives.
This makes them ideally suited to the challenging illumination conditions of the space environment.
AstrAware is coordinated by Politecnico di Milano and led by Assistant Professor Michele Maestrini of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, in collaboration with other members of the SPIRE Lab Professor Pierluigi Di Lizia, Professor Mauro Massari, and Assistant Professor Marco Felice Montaruli.
The project also brings together an international consortium, including the Belgian company Arcsec, combining expertise in aerospace engineering, sensor technology, and space situational awareness.