Lenses are part of camera assemblies used on the satellite. Their primary function is to focus light from an area of interest onto the image sensor. Image sensors are useless without lenses.
The specific lenses being used for our missions serve the purpose of increasing the resolution and narrowing the field of view of the lens in order to:
A) Meet the competition’s spec of being able to image an area of size 40km x 40km at minimum, and 100km x 100km at maximum.
B) Provide the necessary resolution/zoom in order to maintain the 0.1-0.2 degree pointing accuracy that the satellite requires.