Argotec. Argotec is an Italian aerospace engineering company, founded in 2008 in Turin, Italy by David Avino, with offices in Maryland and Florida, USA and operations at EAC in Cologne, Germany. The company is engaged in the production of small satellites (up to 200 kg) and the development of engineering solutions aimed at supporting the comfort of astronauts in orbit.

History 
Initially, Argotec's activity focused on providing services for Space, particularly by creating meals for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Soon, however, its focus shifted to the actual production of microsatellites for Space.

The turning point was ISSPresso, the first coffee machine designed for Space, which Argotec developed for Lavazza and launched to the ISS in 2015.

Since then, the company has transformed its activities, concentrating on its primary areas of expertise: the production of small satellites and comfort solutions for astronauts, explorers, and future space tourists.

In the field of small satellites, Argotec has participated in two NASA missions with two microsatellites.

The first, in terms of mission completion, was the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which took place on September 27, 2022. Onboard was a single satellite, LICIACube, built by Argotec, which captured images of the impact between the DART probe and the asteroid Dimorphos.

From an engineering perspective, LICIACube is a satellite based on the HAWK platform, measuring 30x20x10 centimeters. It is equipped with two optical instruments capable of taking photographs and providing data to the onboard computer, enabling the satellite to navigate fully autonomously. During the impact, the mission was managed by artificial intelligence. Argotec engineers regained control of the satellite from the Control Room in Turin once the impact occurred.

The other mission, named ArgoMoon, flew aboard NASA's Artemis 1 mission. ArgoMoon was the only European satellite among the 10 selected by the American agency.

During its mission, it captured images of Earth and the Moon. The satellite was very similar to LICIACube and was based on the same platform.

Thanks to these two missions, Argotec was the only company in the world in 2022 to have two small satellites simultaneously operating in deep space. Additionally, the LICIACube mission was awarded the 2023 Mission of the Year by the prestigious AIAA (American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics).

In December 2022, Argotec signed a contract to produce the first batch of 10 satellites for IRIDE, an Earth Observation constellation promoted by the Italian government and funded through PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan).

Argotec is also working on ANDROMEDA, a lunar constellation consisting of 24 satellites aiming to ensure highly efficient communication across the lunar surface, as well as between Earth and the Moon—and, one day, between Earth and Mars.

Other notable projects include Lumio, which focuses on studying meteoritic activity on the Moon, and Henon, a satellite designed to forecast solar storms in a DRO (Distant Retrograde Orbit).

Research and development 

The research and development activity in the heat pipe field allowed the company to develop an internal numerical model that, coupled with an optimization model, permits the design of heat pipes maximizing efficiency with the correct selection of macroscopic geometry (tube diameter and length) and microscopic (groove).

Particular attention was paid to the choice of fluids. The analysis and tests were focused on low toxicity fluids that can allow, but is not limited to, use of these devices in inhabited space modules. In fact the systems studied could also be adopted  to heat the home environment increasing the efficiency of the heat transfer systems (from the source – boiler, solar concentrator, etc. – to the room to warm up).

The use of the phase change of a fluid with its simple heating are able to allow, in similar conditions, such as the type of fluid used and the dimensions of the domestic heating system, the transport of a greater quantity of heat and also energy savings.  Among the projects born after the research and development activities in thermal the field we can include: RAH (Renewable passive heat system), HEAT (Heat Exchanging pAssive Technology), ARTE (Advanced Research for passive Thermal Exchange) and INWIP (Innovative Wickless Heat Pipe Systems for Ground and space applications).

The Argotec know-how is also extended to the design of electronic power system, the development of on board computers and on board software, the choice and integration of COTS components and finally to customization following the specific characteristics imposed by the project.

In addition to these skills Argotec also has knowledge of ESA and NASA (ECSS and SSP) standards, and familiarity with safety and integration processes with the ISS required by NASA for all experiments and systems that fly onboard the ISS.

Projects 
In order to study some physical phenomenon about the fluid dynamics of liquids in high temperatures and pressures in microgravity condition, the ISSpresso was born, the first espresso capsule coffee machine for Space. It was developed by Argotec and Lavazza, in a public-private partnership with the Italian Space Agency. On 3 May 2015 this experiment was successfully conducted by Samantha Cristoforetti and it will be utilized again in microgravity conditions by the Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli during his next space mission.

During the research activity on heat pipes, looking to the Space, in 2014 ARTE (Advanced Research for passive Thermal Exchange) was born in order to verify the behaviour of some heat pipes containing low toxicity fluids in microgravity conditions. This payload, coordinated by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was successfully conducted in on 4 April 2016 on board the International Space Station by the American astronaut Timothy Kopra and it will be utilized again by Paolo Nespoli during his VITA mission scheduled for July 2017.

In September 2015 NASA published an announcement for the participation of 13 small satellites (6U, CubeSat standard) in the Artemis 1 mission. One among the evaluated proposals by the Italian Space Agency, by the European Space Agency and finally selected by NASA was ArgoMoon, a project designed by Argotec. ArgoMoon will be the only European satellite to participate in the EM-1 mission. Developed in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the objective of the ArgoMoon mission is to provide NASA information about proper launch vehicle operations through photography. Moreover, it will be able to test nano-technologies in the adverse conditions of translunar trajectory. A unique opportunity for the research of new solutions in order to expand the use of nanosatellites to future exploration and to support the low cost observation of the Earth.

References 

Companies based in Turin
Aerospace companies of Italy
Italian companies established in 2008
Technology companies established in 2008