Current projects

Robust optical frequency converters for future space-borne LIDARs

The project aims to bring the original technology of optical frequency converters developed at KTH up the TRL ladder for deployment on space-borne platforms. The technology is based on optical downconverters using engineered nonlinear optical materials. It exploits the unique physical properties of counter-propagating photon fission that make the process efficient, simple, and much more environmentally robust than current laser technologies. The wavelength agility of this source allows precise targeting of narrow molecular lines of multiple greenhouse gases in future active satellite Earth observation missions. This project is funded by ESA, and the initial stage will run through 2025.

DISCOWER

DISCOWER (Distributed Control in Weightless Environments) is a collaborative project at KTH within the WASP program starting in 2022. It intends to develop safe and powerful control and planning methods for handling robots in weightless environments - specifically space and underwater environments. The goal is to develop algorithms that are transferable to these extreme scenarios, while also being able to coordinate multi-agent teams in complex, mission-critical tasks. A core component of DISCOWER is the creation of an environment for space and underwater robots at KTH, a new research hub dedicated to the intersection of the two areas, bringing together national industry and worldwide well-known organizations for the development of new solutions spanning space and underwater autonomous systems. The project is led by Reglerteknik and the Space Technology Group mainly participates with PhD student Elias Krantz, who started in September 2022. In 2023, a "weightlessness floor" has been built, where platforms carrying robots can maneuver around on air cushions, largely friction-free

Controlled deployment of CubeSat booms

The deployable boom for the SEAM project was uncontrollably deployed by the stored strain energy. One way of controlling the deployment speed without a motor is to use shape memory polymers, cf. shape memory alloys. By heating a part of the boom to a temperature above the glass transition temperature, the deployment for the heated part can be initiated.

ESA Cluster mission

The four Cluster  satellites were sent up in the year 2000 and still deliver excellent scientific data. KTH has contributed detectors for measuring electric fields and waves (EFW) as well as holding the Scandinavian data centre for analysis and diffusion of EFW data. SPC made the decision in Mars 2023 that the data recording will continue until end of year 2024, when the first of the Cluster satellites will begin re-entry in the atmosphere. More than 3600 publications of Cluster results have been made, around 10 % from the EFW team.

ESA JUICE, Jupiter Icy moon Explorer

  JUICE  - KTH participates in an instrument that will measure electric fields and plasma waves around Jupiter's moons. KTH contributes with ground tests of the instrument and the instrument's thermal modelling. The launch took place in April 2023 and now the probe and all its experiments are being verified. Arrival at Jupiter scheduled for 2031.

ESA Solar Orbiter

Solar Orbiter  is a space probe to study the Sun and the solar wind. The spacecraft is in orbit around the Sun with a planned closest approach within Mercury's orbit. KTH participates in an instrument that measures fields and waves. KTH has contributed to electronic circuits that control electric field antennas and has contributed to ground tests of the instrument. Solar Orbiter was postponed to February 6, 2020, and analysis of measurements is currently underway.

ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission

BepiColombo  consists of two spacecraft that will orbit Mercury: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. KTH contributes MEFISTO, an instrument for electric field measurements as part of plasma wave investigations on the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. These will be the first ever measurements of the electric field around Mercury. The successful launch took place on October 20, 2018. The E-field instrument will not be activated until the spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury in 2025, but KTH participates in scientific activity in connection with measurements from other instruments on the way to Mercury.

ESA Rosetta mission

KTH designed and built the DC/DC converter for the Langmuir probe on Rosetta, which arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014. The successful landing of Philae on the comet nucleus on 13 November 2014-12-09 was a major success for ESA. The mission ended in 2016, but analysis of the Rosetta data is still ongoing and many rendezvous are planned in 2021 and beyond.

Fermi

Fermi is a NASA-led international satellite project for the study of high-energy cosmic rays, primarily gamma particles. Fermi was launched in 2008 and will remain operational for several more years. KTH contributed to the development of the detector's calorimeter and is now most active in analyzes of "gamma-ray bursts" (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs).

Geographic Information Technologies for Disaster and Natural Resource Management in Moçambique

The project is financed by SIDA and carried out in collaboration with Lund University, North West University in South Africa and Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique. The aim is to develop a new MSc program in Geographic Information Technology (GIT) for sustainable environmental development, train university staff from several academic subjects and departments to MSc and PhD level in GIT / disaster management, increase quality in research and education at UEM, and strengthen the African regional the collaboration and networking in GIT / disaster management. The project runs during the period 2018-2024.

Climate Change Induced Disaster Management in Africa

Mozambique is one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. Climate-related hazards such as droughts, wildfires, floods, and cyclones are occurring with increasing frequency, having a cumulative and devastating impact on a population that is insufficiently prepared. The main aim of this project is to build education capacity to improve disaster management in Mozambique, using geospatial information technology. It focuses on spatial data and methods, using digital maps, satellite data, and spatial modelling, in order to foresee and prepare for risks related to possible disasters linked to a changing climate. This project is a collaboration among four European partners and four Mozambique partners, led by Lund. The project is funded by EC Erasmus+ Program, 2020-2023.

Detecting Wildfire Emissions of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants Using Multi-Sensor Earth Observation and Machine Learning

The KTH-HKUST collaborative research aims to detect recent wildfire occurrences using machine learning, quantify changes in air pollutants and greenhouse gases through multi-sensor Earth observations, analyze the chemical composition of wildfire smoke as it reaches the downwind region using the HYSPLIT trajectory model, and assess the health impacts and environmental inequality resulting from wildfires. This research will provide critical insights into forest management for wildfire prevention, post-fire air pollution mitigation, and public health management. This project funded by KTH and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2024- 2025.

Earth Observation Big Data and Deep Learning for Global Environmental Change Monitoring

The overall objective of this project is to develop innovative, robust and globally applicable methods for continuous change detection and environmental impact assessment using Earth Observation big data and deep learning, focusing on urbanization and wildfire monitoring. Timely and reliable information on wildfires and floods that the project generates can be used by civil contingencies agencies to support effective emergency management and decision making, to minimize and mitigate wildfire impacts. Automatic and continuous mapping of urban areas and their changes can be used to support sustainable and resilient city planning, and contribute to monitoring the UN 2030 Urban Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11). This project is a multidisciplinary collaboration among researchers in Remote Sensing, Robotics Perception and Learning, and Environmental Systems Analysis. This project is funded by KTH Digital Futures, 2019-2024, and GEO-Google Earth Engine Program, 2020-2022.

EO-AI4Urban: Earth Observation Big Data and Deep Learning for Sustainable and Resilient Cities

The overall objective of this project is to develop innovative, robust and globally applicable methods, based on Earth observation big data and AI, for urban land cover mapping and urbanization monitoring. This research is expected to contribute to 1) advance EO science, technology and applications beyond the state of the art, 2). Timely and reliable updating of urban databases to support sustainable planning at municipal and regional levels, 3) the monitoring objectives of the national authorities and the UN SDG 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This project is within the ESA and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology’s Dragon 5 Program funded by ESA, 2020-2024.

HARMONIA

Development of a Support System for Improved Resilience and Sustainable Urban areas to cope with Climate Change and Extreme Events HARMONIA aims to provide a resilience assessment platform to help urban stakeholders understand and quantify Climate Change effects. Based on satellite and auxiliary data, the HARMONIA platform will offer a user-friendly knowledge base, dispensing detailed information on a local neighborhood and street level. This will support local decision making and foster a wide range of applications dedicated to climate adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, HARMONIA will focus on two types of Climate Change (CC) effects: - Natural and manmade hazards intensified by CC, including urban flooding, soil degradation and geohazards (landslides, earthquake, ground deformation) - Manmade hazards, such as heat islands, urban heat fluxes, air quality, gas emissions. This project is funded by EU Horizon H2020 programme, 2021-2025.

Hubble Space Telescope programs

KTH frequently leads observation campaigns with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on the large Galilean moon of planet Jupiter. In these programs, HST takes images and spectra of ultraviolet emissions and absorptions in the moons’ atmospheres. The limited observing time with HST is granted in intense competition and KTH has been successful in having selected programs almost every year. Last year, the largest moon Ganymede was observed while transiting in front of the bright planet, similar to exoplanet observations. In November 2023, Ganymede will be observed while being in shadow (eclipse) of Jupiter in the search for aurora from water vapor in the moon atmosphere.

LEMON

LEMON (LiDAR Emitter and Multispecies greenhouse gases Observation instrument) aims to be able to make simultaneous measurements of the distribution of the gases CO2, H2O, HDO and CH4 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere from a satellite using laser technology developed at KTH. A number of tests in the lab and on aircraft will be carried out to develop a space-qualified instrument that will be included in a future proposal for space missions. LEMON is funded by a Horizon 2020 grant.

Life Science

KTH conducts human experimental investigations in the centrifuge at the Environmental Physiologist, KTH. The aim is to map how the human circulatory system adapts to changing gravity. Healthy individuals are exposed to increased gravity (approx. 3 G) 3 x 40 min 3/week in periods of 5 weeks. Cardiovascular reflexes are examined before and after the adaptation period. KTH has participated as a leading party in the multinational PlanHab/FemHab studies, the purpose of which was to simulate and exaggerate certain stimulus conditions that will prevail in future planetary habitats. Thus, physiological effects - cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and metabolic - of prolonged bed rest in combination with hypoxia are investigated. The experimental campaigns from these projects have been completed but publication of results is still ongoing. Furthermore, KTH runs a project concerning various preoxygenation strategies to avoid decompression sickness in connection with frequent and long-term "Extra Vehicular Activities" (spacewalks). KTH also investigates the effect of G load on biomechanics during muscle work with a "Fly-wheel dynamometer" specially designed to counteract micro-G-related muscle atrophy and skeletal calcification.

MATS (Mesospheric waves from airglow transient signatures)

MISU is leading this project where the research goal is to study wave motions in higher atmospheric layers that are measured from light rays generated at these heights. KTH's Space and plasma physics contributes electronics. The Swedish Space Agency decided in October 2014 to finance MATS as the first project within the new national small satellite program. The postponement of MATS is planned for 2022.

MERiT (MEthane in Rocket nozzle cooling channels - conjugate heat Transfer measurements)

Propulsion systems based on hydrocarbons, either liquid or hybrid, now represent a major technology challenge for future launch vehicles and space transport systems. Liquefied natural gas/biogas (LNG) with a high content of methane (CH4) is one of the most interesting solutions as a propellant for rocket engines The objectives of the investigations are to determine for various relevant nickel alloys, typical channel geometries, typical hydrocarbon-based fuels under typical operating conditions the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) , degree of coking and corrosion in the cooling channel and pressure drop as a function of added heat output, wall temperature, Reynolds number, fuel composition and pressure level A new research rig, unique on a European level, has been designed and built for the purpose and commissioned at KTH (EGI/ITM) in 2019 .In 2020, test campaigns, mainly related to heat transfer characteristics, have been carried out and published. In 2021, an online measurement method and instrumentation for detecting the onset of coking has been developed and pyrolysis investigations are being carried out. In 2022, additively manufactured cooling geometries were investigated and in 2023 the project entered the final phase of reporting and publication manuscripts. The project was completed on March 30, 2024. An application for MERiT+ will be submitted during June 2024 where AM surface roughness in cooling ducts and its influence on heat transfer will be studied.

MESNET

Development of large deployable antenna composed of a deployable ring structure, a triangular cable network and a radiofrequency-reflecting metallic mesh. Principal investigator for the ESA MESNET project is HPS GmbH in Munich.

MIST (MIniature STudent satellite)

A satellite in the Cubesat class that forms an educational project for at least ten students per semester. Seven different technical and scientific experiments from industry and researchers within and outside KTH will be on board as payload. The formal start of the project was in January 2015, in November of the same year a contract was signed with the Dutch company ISIS (Innovative Solution In Space) for the delivery of basic subsystems to MIST. In 2017, work began on the satellite's hardware. The goal is for the satellite to be ready for launch in 2024, hopefully from ESRANGE. More information on the project's website: mistsatellite.space/ . 

NASA MMS mission

KTH participates in MMS (Magnetospheric Multi-Scale), a NASA project with four space probes for detailed studies of the field line couplings of the magnetosphere. KTH contributes all electronics and mechanics for the electric field instrument as well as a low-voltage power supply part. The launch took place in 2015 from Cape Canaveral, and the four satellites deliver first-class data focusing on the process, "magnetic reconnection". The mission will last until at least September 2023, and a third extension until September 2026 is under review by NASA. Until the fall of 2022, approx. 1,100 publications have appeared with results from MMS, of which nearly 200 have Space and plasma physics as co-authors.

SAR4Wildfire

In recent years, the world witnessed many devastating wildfires that resulted in destructive human and environmental impacts across the globe. Wildfires kill and displace people, damage property and infrastructure, burn vegetation, threat biodiversity, increase CO2 emission and pollution, and cost billions to fight. Therefore, early detection of active fires, near real-time monitoring of wildfire progression and rapid damage assessment are critical for effective emergency management and decision support. SAR, capable of penetrating clouds and smoke and imaging day and night, can play an important role for wildfire monitoring. The objective of this project is to develop innovative, automatic and globally applicable deep learning-based methods for near real-time wildfire monitoring using Sentinel-1 SAR time series and fusion of SAR and optical data. SAR4Wildfire is funded by ESA EO Science for Society Program, 2020-2021, while Sentinel4Wildfire is funded by Formas, 2020-2024.

Space Sunshade System (S3)

A study on the possibility of controlling a potentially dangerously high global temperature increase of greenhouse gases by placing a large number of solar umbrellas in space. During the spring semester 2020, two degree projects were completed that studied two different locations: in orbit around the Earth or at the Lagrange point L1 between the Earth and the Sun. The latter became so interesting that an article with in-depth analyzes for Acta Astronautica was written and published in 2021. Much of the solar parasol project is based on solar sailing technology. The work is mainly carried out with students in the form of degree theses. Until VT 2024, 21 students have worked within the project, resulting in seven master's theses and seven KEX, and two students have been employed as amenuenses to study setups for a demon star mission. Collaborations with several European groups are also made.

SPIDER sounding rockets

KTH is mainly responsible for two rocket projects where a sounding rocket sends out 8-10 free-flying detectors for measurements of electromagnetic fields and to characterize plasma properties in the E region of the ionosphere. The goal is a multipoint study of Farley-Buneman electrostatic turbulence in the region of strong electric currents at about 115 km altitude. The first launch of SPIDER took place on February 2, 2016 with preliminary successful results. A second flight of the experiment (SPIDER-2) was conducted at 00:14 UT on February 20, 2020. It was successful and data analysis is currently underway. A PhD student will start in January 2022 to work with SPIDER data.

SUPERHARD IC (Silicon Carbide Used in Potentially disruptive Emerging Radiation-HARDened Instrument Components)

​The goal of the project SUPERHARD IC (Silicon Carbide Used in Potentially disruptive Emerging RadiationHARDened Instrument Components) is to develop radically new capabilities for the Swedish and European space industry for the manufacture of radiation-resistant instruments, with applications also in other sectors such as the aerospace industry, energy production, industrial production and health , through the design, manufacture and testing of innovative radiation resistant bipolar silicon carbide components. These will include key analog and digital components for custom mixed-signal integrated circuits. The project is financed by the Swedish Space Agency 2017-2021. Due to difficulties in carrying out the irradiation studies during Covid, the doctoral project has been extended and the first results will be published in 2023.

X-Calibur and XL-Calibur

X(L)-Calibur is an X-ray polarimeter developed for observations from a high-altitude balloon. An approximately 10 m long optical bench contains X-ray optics and a scattering polarimeter in the focal point. The bench is pointed at the sky with a precision of arcseconds. XL-Calibur is a continuation of X-Calibur, which has carried out several test flights, including a flight in December 2018 in Antarctica with the participation of KTH where the X-ray pulsar GX 301-2 is studied. XL-Calibur is a second-generation instrument with approximately an order of magnitude higher sensitivity than X-Calibur and the KTH group's previous mission, PoGO+. XL-Calibur will study X-ray sources in the 15-80 keV band, including Cyg X-1, GX 339-4, Her X-1, Vela X-1 and Krabban. KTH has developed i.a. the anticoincidence system for XL-Calibur. First flight of XL-Calibur from Esrange in summer 2022 affected by technical problems. A new flight is planned for summer 2024.​

The high-latitude aurora and its connection to boundary regions in the magnetosphere

The goal is to characterize the auroras that occur at really high latitudes and identify their magnetospheric sources. Examples of this type of aurora are transpolar arcs and high-latitude daytime auroras. Possible sources in the magnetosphere are reconnection regions on the day side or Kelvin-Helmholz waves on the night side. The research is based on DMSP aurora images, Cluster and MMS observations. The results are of great interest for space weather forecasting under calmer conditions. A new PhD student will be hired in 2022.

Analysis and modeling of UV emissions from the ice giant Uranus

The axis of rotation of the ice giant Uranus lies almost in the plane of the ecliptic, and the axis of the magnetic field forms an angle of 60° to this axis of rotation. This leads to seasonal (84 year orbital period) and diurnal (17 hour rotation period) variations in the Uranus system that are different from all other planets. The saturations of Lymanalpha (Lyα) emission from Uranus by the Voyager spacecraft in 1986 enabled various discoveries: Efficient Lyα scattering of molecular hydrogen (H2) in the upper atmosphere, a thermal exosphere and corona of atomic hydrogen, and auroras near the magnetic poles. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observed Uranus between 1998 and 2017 and thus at completely different seasons than Voyager. In this project, a large number of HST spectra and images containing the prominent Ly-α emission are analyzed for the first time. We address five important questions about Uranus' upper atmosphere and auroras, and their short-term and long-term variations. Our results will provide crucial insights into hundreds of 'ice giant' exoplanets. Doctoral student hired in 2021.

GNSS applications

Establish and study reliable and accurate positioning services for various users and construction projects based on permanent GNSS stations generating network RTK (Real Time Kinematic) corrections and positioning services. The project's title was Stomnät i Luften, and KTH collaborated with Lantmäteriet, WSP, RISE and the Trafikverket. In addition, KTH's geodesy group worked on other GNSS applications, such as the use of GNSS signals for sea level changes and environmental monitoring.

ICARUS

The project is read out Integrated circuits for electric propulsion of spacecraft Utilizing silicon carbide (SiC). The breakthrough idea of ​​the ICARUS project is to demonstrate high-voltage integrated circuits in SiC, capable of blocking 5000 V or more. We foresee several applications in the aerospace industry that can benefit from the lower weight, lower volume and higher reliability that integrated circuit solutions offer. The pioneering application example is electric propulsion of spacecraft. The project is financed by the Swedish Space Agency 2021-2025.

Molecular propellants for electric propulsion

The goal is to develop molecular propellants to replace xenon as the dominant propellant for electric propulsion. A selection of aromatic hydrocarbons has been evaluated by theoretical calculations and mass spectroscopic analyzes and demonstrated superior resistance to ionization-induced decay when compared to other molecular propellants (Borrfors et al. Journal of Electric Propulsion, (2023) 2:24). The proposed propellants have potentially better performance than xenon and several other advantages. The initial study has been carried out at KTH in collaboration with OHB Sweden AH and partly financed by the Swedish Space Agency (NRFP4).

Robust optical frequency converters for future space-borne LIDARs

The project aims to bring the original technology of optical frequency converters developed at KTH up the TRL ladder for deployment on space-borne platforms. The technology is based on optical downconverters using engineered nonlinear optical materials. It exploits the unique physical properties of counterpropagating photon fission that make the process efficient, simple, and much more environmentally robust than current laser technologies. The wavelength agility of this source allows precise targeting of narrow molecular lines of multiple greenhouse gases in future active satellite Earth observation missions. This project is funded by ESA, and the initial stage will run through 2025. 

Space Biology

The research group at KTH/SciLifeLab studies the impact of microgravity on brain and heart in collaboration with NASA GeneLab. To this end, we apply a novel technique, named "Spatial Transcriptomics", that allows to capture gene expression information in 2D. This means we are able to visualize and quantify the expression of genes in any given tissue. In the project, we are analyzing brains and hearts from mice that spent 41 days on the International Space Station (ISS) as well as corresponding ground controls.

SICSAT

Project in the Department of Electronics and Embedded Systems that aims to develop efficient and low-power algorithms for on-board analysis of data on satellites. The work started in 2021 by Christofer Schwartz, postdoc from ITA in Brazil, under the supervision of Professor Ingo Sander. Schwartz's postdoc ended in September 2022 but resulted in publications in Satellite Image Compression Guided by Regions of Interest and Proceedings of the Optics, Photonics and Digital Technologies for Imaging Applications VII. In January 2024, work continued with a new postdoc from Brazil, Marcello Costa. Saab is a partner and the company Unibap in Uppsala has also participated.

SPL - Stacked Prism Lens - new optics for X-ray astronomy

When we observe the Universe with X-ray telescopes, we see it from its most extreme side: we see black holes, extremely compact neutron stars, jets and powerful explosions. However, our knowledge of X-ray radiation from these extreme parts of the Universe is severely limited by the technology used in current telescopes. X-ray radiation is difficult to focus, which leads to the need to build large and heavy telescopes, which nevertheless have significantly worse performance than fairly small telescopes for visible light. Our goal is to get around these problems by using a completely new X-ray telescope technology. The technology is based on "Stacked Prism Lens (SPL)" and means that rings of microfabricated prisms are used to focus the X-ray radiation. The biggest advantage is that the focal length is much shorter (less than 0.5 m, compared to approx. 10 m for today's telescopes). This makes it possible to easily build a telescope that can collect more than a thousand times as much light as today's telescopes. Another big advantage is that the telescope provides a completely superior spatial resolution, which means that you can see more details in the pictures you take. This is important to be able to make correct physical interpretations.

STAMPE (Space Turbines with Additive Manufactured PErformance)

The global need for rocket launches has increased significantly in recent years and driven the development of new technical solutions in rocket propulsion. Within Europe there is an ambition to develop reusable liquid-powered rockets and in Sweden GKN Aerospace participates in ESA's engine development program Prometheus and Swedish Space Corporation in the rocket demonstrator project Themis, which will make its first test flights in Kiruna with Prometheus engines. In a liquid-fueled rocket engine, the fuel and oxygen pumps are driven by one or more turbines. In order to be able to cost-effectively apply AM to reusable turbines, a special focus is required on the surface roughness that products manufactured with additive manufacturing methods get in order to avoid expensive post-processing. Flow losses and heat transfer capability will be affected and thus the performance of the rocket motor. STAMPE proposes to experimentally and numerically investigate the influence of surface roughness on aerodynamic losses and heat transfer, partly in a simplified setup for a simplified measurement, partly in a realistic flow environment in a test turbine, conditions create for an academic height in the studies. The overall academic goal is to better understand the impact of AM surface roughness on pressure loss and heat transfer coefficients for flow components in rotating flow machines. Project period is 2023 - 2027.. 

Studies of supernovae, gamma rays and active galactic nuclei

A number of different space telescopes are used to study supernovae (and their remnants), gamma rays and active galactic nuclei. X-rays are important for this research and all the major X-ray telescopes are used, including XMM-Newton, Swift, NuSTAR and Chandra. For visible light observations, the Hubble Space Telescope is regularly used for observations of SN 1987A. Observations of this supernova are being conducted with the James Webb telescope, which began taking data in 2022.

Satellite gravimetry

Use of GRACE and GRACE-Follow-on data to study changes in Earth's surface mass and gravity, such as modeling land uplift, temporal variations of gravity field changes, etc. (GRACE is short for The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission).