Lens R&D B.V.

ESA open day was very successful again. With plenty of people visiting our booth. Most fun moment was the visit of three young aspiring space enthusiasts that wanted to know everything about Sunsensors and even questioned if we would re-invest the earnings of the BiSon in the new digital Sunsensor IBIS. I didn't realize that this may have been a prank from some grown up sending some kids with an earplug and listening into the conversation, but if not, I was genuinely surprised as to the level of maturity some small children can display :-) If no prank, you should watch these kids as they are some of the bright minds that will shape the future of space 😁

DRB IPS+ Yesterday (October 1st) the successful conclusion of the delivery review board meeting with European Space Agency - ESA 's Jeroen Vandersteen detailing the current status of our digital Sunsensor project was celebrated with a very appropriate toast. The DRB for the IPS+ chip was at the same day as the celebration of the 12.5 year existence of Lens Research & Development now formally called Lens R&D B.V. As memorized on that day it will take a couple of years before the single chip digital Sunsensor is fully qualified and transformed into yet another ESA qualified product, but we are sure it will fly well before that given the significant interest expressed by multiple potential customers. We would like to thank ESA and NSO - Netherlands Space Office for the enduring support aimed at innovating Sunsensors for space applications.

We always liked Space Expo Noordwijk but now we even like it better :-) Space expo is a nice space exhibition right next the European Space Agency - ESA ESTEC facilities in Noordwijk. Open for the general public it not only provides some insights into what is happening in the world of space technology in general, but specifically in the Netherlands as well. Apart from taking a tour around the ESTEC facilities it now also provides the opportunity to have a look at the Lens R&D B.V. Sunsensors. To be honest we are proud to be exhibited and want to thank Barbara Hoppel and team for the nice presentation of our products. The exhibit even comes with a small explanation of what a Sunsensor is and how it works. Well done. We promise to augment the exhibit with one or two of our unique digital Sunsensors as soon as we can spare one 😉

Next on the pad, a single chip true digital Sunsensor which is not only radiation hardened but also albedo free and including latching current limiter, low dropout regulators and communication drivers on chip. This chip will allow to not only build the smallest true digital Sunsensor, but also the most reliable one.

What is the best audience? To us, the best audience is an interested audience that interacts. It is always nice to get questions (and be able to answer them correctly) even if the visitors are not directly interested in buying your products. Even if they are not interested now, they might run into somebody that needs your products at a later stage (or they might need them themselves). If they remember your products at that moment, the first seed is planted for your next sales. Apart from that, even if they never need the products, it is always good to educate people as one is never to old to learn. Next to this, it is always nice to see people leave a bit more knowledgeable than when they came😁 .

No BS performance The first contract for the delivery of flight hardware received by Lens Research & Development was for the delivery of BiSon64 Sunsensors for the LuxSpace ESAIL satellite. Although by far not the first satellite to be launched with our Sunsensors, ESAIL has been performing flawlessly and the sensors are delivery virtually noise free signals as can be expected from a decent analogue fine Sunsensor. Although there will be some difference in performance you will probably need a microscope to see the difference between the latest data as generously provided by Jeroen Buursink and previously reported data. This goes to show that the Lens R&D B.V. Sunsensors will deliver the performance that is specified both at launch and after a prolonged period in orbit. Building heritage :-)

Three guesses That is all you get to figure out which company is our largest customer at this moment in time. 😁 The opening social at Small Satellite Conference (SmallSat) is always one of the highlights of this conference. Sadly it was announced today that the conference will move to salt lake city next year partially due to price gauging of the local hotels. Therefore this will be my 15th time and last time to enjoy the hospitality of Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan :-( What will remain are the fond memories and the task to build up the same type of atmosphere in the new location. A daring task for both organisers sponsors and participants. So far, so good, so let's first finish this weeks conference and than look forward to the next.

Beating jetlag in Logan Coming to the Small Satellite Conference (SmallSat) in Logan means beating the jetlag every time. What better way to do this than catching the last Sunrays of the day. The first day is over, the first new contacts made and may old friends met. Always a pleasure to be in Logan despite the time difference there is never a dull moment. Looking forward to a successful current edition and meeting many people. If you are there as well and want to learn about the latest developments in high reliability Sunsensor technology, come search me out and we can discuss.

CalV2 has nothing to do with Calvinism. It has everything to do with increasing production capacity at Lens R&D B.V. though. As part of this graduation project for the Leidse instrumentmakers School, Sydney Van Klooster has designed and manufactured a straylight free enclose for our second generation calibration setup. The actual stages are designed and manufactured by ENDUTEQ on basis of a principle design provided. As the system uses linear motors with high precision encoders instead of steppermotors, there is a direct high accuracy feedback on the actual position, not only guaranteeing accuracy at all times, but also enabling a significant reduction in time required for a calibration. Although still to be verified during the commissioning phase it is expected that we can calibrate some five times faster than before at least as accurate and with a calibration profile that is linear in both alpha and beta axis. Furthermore the system is half the size of the current system, allowing two systems to be put in parallel without loosing cleanroom real estate for other activities. In short, a long awaited major improvement that is upcoming with some serious steps taken already.

A toast to the team. 🎉 You know what they say, if you want to go fast you go alone, if you want to go strong you go with a team. Although a small company in its core, Lens Research & Development is capable of outperforming much larger counterparts due to a strong team of strategic manufacturing partners. One of these partners is PhotonFirst another Dutch SME that is champion it its field of operations (high precision assembly of application specific photonic circuits). Today we strengthened our strategic cooperation by actively starting the knowledge transfer that allows the scaling of MAUS Sunsensor production from several hundreds to several thousands of sensors per year. This involved strategic investments in facilities in both companies but will allow to scale the manufacturing of high reliability Sunsensors for cubesat applications. At this moment it only involves the MAUS analogue Sunsensors, but first silicon is expected for the single chip true digital Sunsensor µIBIS shortly, and Photonfirst will assemble to testbeds as a follow up of the preparatory activities performed by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research earlier.