Optical payload for high-resolution earth imaging suitable for microsatellites

Purpose of the paper is to describe the payload of a microsatellite with a high resolution optical system for Earth observation. There are already many Earth observation satellites, however they are characterized by large dimensions and weight and typically high cost. The use of a constellation of smaller satellites can decrease the revisiting time of any portion of the globe keeping the cost low. This approach could allow a nearly real time monitoring of specific areas of interest thus providing an original contribution to Earth monitoring. The main subsystem of the microsatellite is the telescope for which thermal deformation could considerably reduce its performance. The last part of the paper concerns this issue and describes the experimental tests performed on a new multi-layer insulation system.