In September 2020, Slovenia joined the list of countries that have their own satellites in orbit. The European Space Agency rocket Vega VV16, launched from the CSG space centre in French Guiana, carried into orbit as many as 53 satellites, including the Slovenian NEMO-HD and TRISAT. Slovenian satellites are part of the first test of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service, a concept designed to eliminate small spacecraft.
The TRISAT satellite is the fruit of Slovenian invocations. It is based on the high-performance platform of the Slovenian company SkyLabs, but the University of Maribor developed the satellite. There is a miniature hyperspectral or multispectral camera onboard the satellite, which operates in the short-wave infrared range and takes daily images of the Earth's surface. With these images, we can more closely monitor water pollution and vegetation humidity, determine the origin of fires, and detect volcanic dust in the higher layers of the atmosphere for the aviation industry's needs.
The successful launch of the Nemo HD microsatellite and the TRISAT nanosatellite represents a historic achievement in the development of the Slovenian high-tech industry. Furthermore, the development and monitoring of satellites and data sent by satellites from space represent an invaluable source of information and experience for Slovenian scientists and space engineers to develop technologies and space exploration further.
