October 2026 – Following its successful launch, ATHENE 1 is now in Low Earth Orbit. The satellite marks the beginning of a new phase for SeRANIS, enabling key technologies for future civilian and military satellite systems to be tested under real conditions in space.
ATHENE 1 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on October 1, 2026, at 20:32 CEST. The satellite travelled aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-18 mission and was successfully deployed into Low Earth Orbit.
Contact with ATHENE 1 has since been established. Based on the first data received, the satellite is healthy and in good condition.
An experimental laboratory in orbit
ATHENE 1 is the central mission of SeRANIS – Seamless Radio Access Networks for Internet of Space. The research program has been conducted at the SPACE Research Center of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich since 2020 and is funded by the Bundeswehr Center for Digitalization and Technology Research (dtec.bw). More than 70 researchers are involved in the program, which has a total volume of over 77 million euros.
With the successful launch, ATHENE 1 now becomes a multifunctional technology and experimentation platform for 22 scientific experiments.
The research conducted aboard the satellite covers areas including satellite communications and networking, navigation, reconnaissance and sensing, artificial intelligence, onboard data processing, modern satellite structures and electric propulsion. Several experiments will also investigate technologies for detecting, locating and mitigating interference affecting satellite-based navigation and communication systems.
Creating a new path from research to application
SeRANIS was created to bring new technologies from terrestrial laboratories into space more rapidly. ATHENE 1 provides an environment in which innovative hardware, software and operational approaches can gain practical experience under real orbital conditions before being transferred to future applications.
The mission also creates opportunities for cooperation between university research, the Bundeswehr, established industry partners, start-ups and future users. Its flexible and software-defined architecture will make it possible to adapt functions and applications to new technical standards, operational scenarios and research questions after launch.
“For us, SeRANIS was always more than a satellite mission,” says Prof. Andreas Knopp, initiator and program manager of SeRANIS. “With the launch of ATHENE 1, this vision becomes reality.”
From launch to scientific operations
ATHENE 1 was developed and built by the University of the Bundeswehr Munich together with LuxSpace, a subsidiary of OHB. The mission combines LuxSpace’s modular Triton-X Heavy satellite platform with a multifunctional experimental payload developed by the university. Payload and platform integration was carried out at the OHB site in Oberpfaffenhofen, while OHB Orbital Access managed the launch campaign.
The German Space Operations Center of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen provides the ground infrastructure required to monitor and control the satellite and to exchange commands and telemetry data.
Following launch and initial contact, the mission is progressing through its early operational and in-orbit commissioning phases. The 22 scientific experiments will then be activated step by step.
ATHENE 1 is designed to operate for several years. Its journey into orbit is complete, but the scientific mission has only just begun.
Read the official University of the Bundeswehr Munich announcement
© UniBw M – Chair of Signal Processing/Simone