OPS-SAT PRETTY

PRETTY
OPS-SAT PRETTY
Mission typeEarth observation satellite
Operator European Space Agency
COSPAR ID2023-155H Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.58023Edit this on Wikidata
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type3U CubeSat
ManufacturerAustria Beyond Gravity Austria, TU Graz, Seibersdorf Labs
Start of mission
Launch date9 October 2023
RocketVega, flight VV-23
End of mission
DeclaredOctober 2024
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeSun-synchronous
Altitude568 km

OPS-SAT PRETTY (Passive REflecTomeTry and dosimetrY) is a CubeSat mission by the European Space Agency (ESA). The primary payload of the satellite is a passive reflectometer for GNSS reflectometry measuring sea state, sea ice, and ocean currents by receiving Galileo and GPS signals reflected from Earth surface. The secondary payload is a radiation monitor. The satellite was launched in October 2023 on a Vega rocket.

In November 2025, maintenance of the satellite was transferred to the OPS-SAT Space Lab and the Graz University of Technology. The satellite was renamed from PRETTY to OPS-SAT PRETTY.

On 27 July 2026, OPS-SAT PRETTY was used as an example of voice recognition algorithms operating on CubeSat hardware. An operative spoke an authorization command followed by "PRETTY PLAY DOOM" twice, and the satellite was able to decode enough of the message to start and perform a replay of a demo file of the video game Doom. This was a continuation of similar code for Doom that had been deployed to the OPS-SAT-1 CubeSat.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "WMO OSCAR Satellite: PRETTY". space.oscar.wmo.int. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  2. ↑ "PRETTY". www.esa.int. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  3. ↑ Dielacher, Andreas; Fragner, Heinrich; Koudelka, Otto (2022). "PRETTY – passive GNSS-Reflectometry for CubeSats". E & I Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik. 139 (1): 25–32. doi:10.1007/s00502-022-00993-7. ISSN 0932-383X.
  4. ↑ Dielacher, A.; Fragner, H.; Koudelka, O.; Beck, P.; Wickert, J.; Cardellach, E.; Høeg, Per (2019). "The ESA Passive Reflectometry and Dosimetry (Pretty) Mission". IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. pp. 5173–5176. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2019.8898720. ISBN 978-1-5386-9154-0.
  5. ↑ "ESA's PRETTY mission, a nanosatellite to monitor sea and ice from space". www.ice.csic.es. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "PRETTY". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "PRETTY / 58023 / 2023-155H". orbit.ing-now.com. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  8. ↑ Schoklitsch, Falko (6 November 2025). "Austrian Satellite Mission PRETTY Continues under the Leadership of TU Graz". TU Graz. Graz University of Technology. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Rabie, Passant (5 November 2026). "An Amateur Radio Operator Told a Satellite to Play 'Doom.' And It Listened". Gizmodo. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  10. ↑ Labrèche, Georges (2026). "PRETTY DOOMed — the first voice command of a satellite". Tanagra Space. Retrieved 5 November 2026.