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Ibadan, 16 March 2023. – EnduroSat, a software-flexible NanoSats and space services provider, has announced a partnership with the University of Sydney and Breakthrough Initiatives on its TOLIMAN mission. As a result, EnduroSat will design and build a 16U MicroSat called TOLIMAN to perform high-precision astrometric measurements on the Alpha Centauri system. The search for exoplanets will focus on the habitable zone around two Sun-like stars, Alpha Centauri A and B.
The University of Sydney and Breakthrough Watch launched the TOLIMAN mission in 2021, specializing in searching nearby habitable exoplanets. For the mission, it will use a custom mirror to spread starlight into a flower-like pattern, enabling astronomers to find evidence of orbiting planets in the Alpha Centauri system. However, phase 2 of the program – designing and building the telescope and integrating it with the spacecraft – is now underway, with EnduroSat as a partner.
Speaking on the mission, Raycho Raychev, Founder and CEO of EnduroSat, commented, “it will bring opportunities to hundreds of next-gen exploration teams to realize their space missions. Bringing the cost and complexity down, the mission will open an array of possibilities for space exploration, and we are glad to push the limit of what’s possible.”
Likewise, Mission leader Professor Peter Tuthill from the University of Sydney said: “With the Centauri system just four light years away, that’s tantalizingly close to home. Astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets outside our solar system, but most are thousands of light years away and beyond our reach.”
This groundbreaking mission aims to inspire future astronomers worldwide and small satellite companies aiming toward exploration missions. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that NanoSats and MicroSats can perform complex missions and contribute new discoveries
