The “Nello Carrara” Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC) is part of the National Research Council (CNR), which is the main public organisation pursuing research and innovation in Italy. IFAC’s main aim is to carry out frontier research at an international level and, at the same time, to develop new technologies and methodologies in different scientific fields.

The research unit involved in the SURPRISE project is “METEORS – Methods and Techniques for active and passive Optical Remote Sensing”. The METEORS group has a long-standing expertise in the design and development of optical instruments and methods, with particular reference to environmental monitoring and EO applications.

CSEM, Centre Suisse d’Electronique et Microtechnique, is a private, non-profit Swiss organisation for applied research. CSEM has as a mission to support Swiss and European industry with research and innovation and it is a recognised RTO. Approximately 400 highly qualified and specialised employees from various scientific and technical disciplines work for CSEM.

The CSEM Systems division is involved in SURPRISE and has extensive experience in the design and development of complex solutions combining electronics, optics and photonics, mechanics as well as smart control and signal processing algorithms and software.

Politecnico di Torino (POLITO) is a centre of teaching and research excellence, and one of the most important universities in Europe for architecture and engineering studies. Nowadays, Politecnico di Torino has three Schools of Engineering, two Schools of Architecture, a School of Economics and Management, and a Post-Graduate School.

The department of Electronics and Telecommunications consists of 70 faculty staff, over 50 PhD students and postdocs and 66 administrative staff. The research unit involved in SURPRISE is the “Image Processing and Learning” group, a working in the field of visual information processing for space and multimedia applications.

ACRI-ST is an independent SME, supplier of space agencies in all phases of Earth Observation missions. ACRI-ST is specialised in prototyping and engineering of EO data processors, data quality check systems, end-to-end and sensors’ simulations, calibration & validation, data processing, archiving and distribution.

ACRI-ST covers three main types of activities:

• Research and study on numerical modelling and simulation of physical phenomena applied to environmental issues;
• Engineering for the specification, development and validation of data processing of EO systems;

• Operations on payload data ground segments, mission performance centres, collaborative exploitation platforms, processing, and archiving.

SAITEC provides electronic systems for Aerospace & Defence, with a specialisation in design and manufacturing of ground support equipment: Electrical/Optical/Mechanical Ground Support Equipment, Electrical Stimuli Generators, Unit Testers and Special Check-Out Equipment.

Thanks to its long-standing expertise, SAITEC has taken part in some of the most important international Space programmes, working side by side with the major players in this industry.
SAITEC’s Quality Management System is certified to the EN9100:2018 standard for Aerospace, Space and Defence Electronic System & Manufacturing and the company is registered as Certified Supplier in the International Aerospace Quality Group-Online System.

Resolvo specialises in cooperation to promote responsible economic development.

Resolvo is expert in designing and implementing communication strategies for European projects. Resolvo has long-term experience in web-based communication, stakeholder involvement, event organisation and participative performance monitoring and evaluation. They are committed to communication of research results to the wider public.

Resolvo’s staff are trained in business plan development and exploitation of research results. With extensive knowledge and expertise on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), which runs through the SURPRISE, Resolvo is the RRI Manager for the project.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) and its about 400 employees turn over an annual research volume of 40 million €. IPMS is one of 72 research institutes run by the Fraunhofer Society, Europe’s largest organisation for applied R&D.

Core competence of the institute comprises research, development, and pilot manufacturing of micro-electro-opto-mechanical systems. Work at Fraunhofer IPMS is based on extensive scientific know-how, long-term application experience as well as modern equipment.

Additionally, the IPMS provides services in the field of nano- and micro-electronics with functional electronic materials, processes and systems, device and integration, maskless lithography and analytics

Leonardo is a global player in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors.

Leonardo has its headquarters in Italy and has over 49,000 employees worldwide. Leonardo spent 1.5 billion euro in R&D in 2019. Based on the dual application of technologies, Leonardo designs and creates products, systems, services and integrated solutions both for the defence sector and for public and private customers of the civil sector, both in Italy and abroad.

Leonardo, through its Electronics Division and Space joint ventures, is among the leading European and international operators in the space industry, thanks to its wide range of instruments, subsystems, sensors and high-tech products for Earth observation, planetary exploration, navigation and telecommunication missions.