Two days ago, Protostar Labs received news about the final results of the project with the European Space Agency – their code was successfully implemented on the ESA OPS-SAT satellite in Earth’s orbit. This is the first time a Croatian company has achieved this. As part of the project, the Protostar Labs team developed and applied their own algorithms for anomaly detection on the satellite, all to detect irregularities in telemetry data.
Protostar Labs has been collaborating with ESA since 2021 when they signed their first contract under which they developed a system for introducing artificial intelligence on FPGA computers (Field Programmable Gate Array). As explained by Filip Novoselnik, co-founder and director of Protostar Labs, this is specific hardware that is most commonly found on satellites, but also on some terrestrial systems that require fast processing with very low energy consumption, such as the automotive industry. He also describes why they achieved this accomplishment literally at the last minute.
—
— Successful completion of this project led ESA to propose that we continue our collaboration and test the solutions we developed in space, specifically on the satellite. Thus, about four to five months ago, we began intensive collaboration with the ESA OPS-SAT team from ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) in Darmstadt. Colleagues from the company spent several days with ESA engineers. This was a kind of race against time as the OPS-SAT satellite was actually at the end of its mission. This type of satellite does not have active management, and its altitude decreases over time. Once it reaches denser layers of the atmosphere, the satellite burns up. This happened yesterday, after five years of mission, it burned up over Australia, marking the end of the mission. We literally managed to complete everything in the last days and hours – Novoselnik recounts.
A Demanding Industry
Protostar Labs has been developing algorithms for anomaly detection in complex data for a long time, which they have already applied in other industries. For example, their solutions are used for visual inspection and quality control – detecting defective products, marking them, and removing them from the production line. They adapted and implemented the same algorithms on the aforementioned FPGA computers on the satellite.
– The satellite collects a multitude of telemetry data that speaks about its current state, for example, orientation, magnetic field, temperature, and any anomaly in the measurements indicates a potential problem or malfunction. Our algorithms actually analyzed the satellite’s telemetry in real-time, detected anomalies, and sent information back to Earth about where and when an anomaly occurred – adds Novoselnik.
—
—
This is proof that high-quality solutions for the space industry, one of the most demanding and regulated industries in the world, can also be developed in Croatia. Novoselnik emphasizes that there is a lot of untapped potential in the space industry and a need for digital solutions that the IT industry can offer.
Recognized Potential
The headquarters of Protostar Labs is in the town of Belišće, and their small team of engineers and scientists has known each other since the Astronomical Society ‘Anonymus’ from Valpovo, as well as from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Information Technology in Osijek. The company was founded in 2019 after co-founders Novoselnik and Aldin Ćebo (now the Chief Technology Officer) realized that their computer vision technology for analyzing astronomical images, with which they discovered 20 new supernovae at the La Sagra Observatory in Spain from 2010 to 2013, has significant potential for other applications in the industry. This discovery was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union. Protostar Labs was recognized as a leader two years ago when it was included in the ‘ones to watch’ list of the most promising companies whose development is worth following because their products or services promise a certain business future.
– The Croatian space industry is still in its infancy, with only a few active companies, and we are practically pioneers in this field. The global space industry is growing at an incredible pace, with significant investments. Previously, it was reserved only for states and government agencies, while today we have a huge number of startups sending their satellites into orbit, developing rovers, and even participating in lunar missions. I believe the potential is enormous, but as a country, we should strategically position ourselves better and focus on some segments. It should not be forgotten that every euro invested in the space industry returns six euros through various technologies and solutions for the industry and the economy in general – Novoselnik reminds us.
Ambitious Plans
Therefore, the team at Protostar Labs plans to ‘democratize’ access to the space industry in the upcoming period and connect companies that have expertise in interesting technologies but lack expertise in implementing solutions on satellite hardware. They aim to achieve this through the development of their own software platform.
They are also collaborating with the University of Zagreb’s FER on a project to develop a module for monitoring light pollution on Earth, which is also funded by ESA. The plan, says Novoselnik, is for this module to be launched into space in 2026, and they also have collaboration with the University of New Mexico, working on a project for visual inspection of satellites in orbit to address malfunctions.
Thus, Novoselnik hopes that their achievement will encourage others to engage in this rapidly growing industry.
