The ICARUS initiative
The International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS) system was a technological and scientific breakthrough in studying the behavior of animals from space. The system was operational on the International Space Station for a few years as a technology demonstrator to validate its concept of operation, technology and scientific usefulness. In the short time, it proved to be very successful by producing valuable scientific data for researchers and scientists all over the world.
Next phase: “ICARUS goes LEO”
TALOS was awarded a contract by the Max Planck Society to build the next generation ICARUS system which will fly on a cubesat in a low earth orbit. A huge technological challenge, considering the previous system size on the ISS.
The new ICARUS system will already become operational in fall 2024. This will allow all scientific projects to continue and also bring significant advances to its operation concept: for the first time, the ICARUS system will allow for a real global coverage detecting ICARUS tags anywhere on Earth once a day.
The system is also open to be extended by additional cubesats enabling shorter update times to keep an even closer eye on wildlife and hence predict and hopefully prevent natural disasters.
Constant updates
We are very proud that TALOS has now become part of the ICARUS initiative and contributes to its technological and scientific success. Over the next months, we will constantly share updates of our progress towards the launch next year. And afterwards, we will share some of the amazing scientific discoveries we helped make possible.
Find out more on ICARUS here: Icarus - Erdbeobachtung mit Tieren | Tiersensoren – Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (mpg.de)