On October 5, 2022 a new generation of Jena sensors was launched into space on C-band communication satellites built by the Boeing Company.

SES-20 and SES-21 are two all-electric propulsion, lightweight 702SP satellites combining proven hardware and next-generation technology. The satellites will enable SES, a leader in global content connectivity solutions, to continue delivering C-band broadcast and radio services as well as critical network communications to the United States.

The launch represents an important milestone for Jena-Optronik. We have succeeded in launching the first space-worthy and internally fully redundant rotation rate sensor combined with two ASTRO APS star trackers. The system represents the perfect synthesis of both sensor technologies.

 
Near 150 star trackers from the ASTRO^© product family have led to the success of a large number of spacecraft missions. Jena-Optronik has been a supplier to Boeing for more than two decades.

 
The ongoing commercialisation of space travel calls for more and more modularity, more flexible possible applications and the use of the latest, state-of-the-art technology for a wide range of applications in space, while maintaining the same requirements of performance and reliability. ASTROgyro is a self-contained sensor suite that combines the performance and reliability of the world-leading ASTRO APS star trackers with a fully redundant 3-axis inertial reference unit (IRU).

The entire team at Jena-Optronik contributed to the development, production and testing of the ASTROgyro and is very proud to be part of this mission.