Small Satellite Conference

Small Satellite Conference

Posted by samc on August 17th, 2007

The 21st Annual Conference on Small Satellites, August 13-16, 2007 at Utah State University focused on mission that make them uniquely capable platforms, either individually or in constellations. Here’s their schedule, technical sessions, list of exhibitors and proceedings.

A CubeSat, explains WikiPedia, is cheap and small, only 10×10×10 centimetres (a volume of exactly one litre), weighing no more than one kilogram. They typically use commercial off-the-shelf components. CubeSats can be built and launched for an estimated US$65,000–80,000 each. A “nanosat” has a mass between 1 and 10 kg while a “picosat” weighs between 0.1 and 1 kg. Formation flying lets multiple satellites work together.

Small satellites can be an enabling, even disruptive technology. They can provide the first images of a disaster event, connect remote regions to medical assistance and enable a warfighter to see over the hill in real time, or robotically explore the surface of a near-Earth asteroid.

The 4th Annual CubeSat Developers’ Summer Workshop this week included Calpoly and the University of Louisiana.

Recent Microsat Missions and Future Missions include:

• NASA’s Space Technology 5 (ST5), a three micro-satellite constellation, was deployed last year. The spacecraft were maintained in a “pearls on a string” constellation with controlled spacing ranging from just over 5000 km down to under 50 km. NASA’s near-term Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) is an enhancement to the Micro-X design that includes additional communication and data relay technologies with the Lunar Robotic Orbiter as a pathfinder for a mission to the Lunar South Pole.
• Surrey Satellite Technology will summarize the results of a hyperspectral imaging mission that has now completed more than five years in orbit and is providing a wealth of data to Users across the world. Surrey Satellite Technology is a privately-owned British company, that has launched 27 small satellite missions for international customers and employs 230 staff working on LEO, GEO and interplanetary missions.
• The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) is developing enabling technologies in collaboration with the University of Calgary for future precise formation flying missions.
  
• The DOD’s Tactical Satellites (TacSats) are part of the Operational Responsive Space (ORS) demonstration program to develop rapid response, low cost, small satellites. TacSat-2’s payload supports a 274 Mbps downlink and a 200 Kbps uplink, allowing for responsive tasking and collection. Late in 2007, TacSat-3 (pdf) will take networking and multiple data rates to a new level, demonstrating direct theater tasking, collection and dissemination. The satellite will support a 274 Mbps downlink data rate in addition to lower data rates for potential Remote Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) connectivity.

In other news, Boeing has completed the first phase of its nano-satellite research and experimentation. With the successful conclusion of the CubeSat TestBed 1 (CSTB1) mission, Boeing is evaluating approaches for future operational nano-satellites — spacecraft weighing less than 22 pounds (10 kg). Pico-satellites like CSTB1 weigh less than 3 pounds (1 kg).

The program is now entering an optional test phase to support additional experiments such as taking more photographs using CubeSat’s ultra-low power imager and evaluating non-traditional attitude control algorithms.

The Autonomous Nanosatellite Guardian Evaluating Local Space (ANGELS) Nanosatellite Program is run by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM. ANGELS will autonomously navigate around other spacecraft, acting as an in-orbit guard. It will use a Proton200k Computer, capable of 900 MFLOPS, from Space Micro. They’re a part of the team lead by Lockheed, along with Space Dynamics Laboratory, part of Utah State University’s Research Foundation.

ANGELS would be the size of a small suitcase, and during launch would piggyback on the satellite that it is intended to monitor. Once in orbit, “we would detach and then stay in local space” near the other satellite, says Stan Kennedy, the ANGELS programme manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado, US.

source : dailywireless.org