Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology is designed to supplement ground based radar in the air traffic control (ATC) system of tomorrow. ADS-B allows an aircraft to find its position, speed, and heading via a satellite navigation constellation and report this, as well as other flight-related information, to ground-based receivers and other aircraft within its transmission range. The satellites of the Iridium NEXT constellation, which is due to become operational in 2017, will each host an ADS-B receiver operated by Aireon LLC, making global near real-time tracking of aircraft possible for the first time. By using a micro-space design approach, similar performance and global coverage could be achieved by using a constellation of small satellites. The small satellite constellation approach could allow more countries to operate independent ATC systems, reduce operational costs, quicken deployment of new satellites, and make a global dataset of aircraft movements more readily accessible to a greater number of end users.
In the interest of developing technology that could be used in such a constellation, the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS-SFL) has developed an ADS-B receiver to be flown as a secondary payload on the upcoming CanX-7 mission. The spacecraft will use a 30×10×10 cm nanosatellite to demonstrate an ADS-B receiver and a drag sail deorbit device in low-Earth orbit. For the ADS-B payload, a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) ADS-B receiver was chosen in order to minimize development costs and reduce risk. Link simulation was performed in order to verify that the capabilities of the receiver were sufficient for space operations, and to derive requirements for the antenna. Based on these requirements, a circularly polarized patch antenna was designed and manufactured. The measured performance parameters of the various system components were then used to simulate the expected ADS-B coverage from low-Earth orbit.
Satellites can play an important role in the new security paradigm that involves encryption-key distribution using quantum mechanical techniques. Although, most information and security keys travel over fiber networks, an indispensable role for satellite-based "key-exchange" nodes will become a necessity for connecting networks on national, continental and global scales. At the moment, due to timely investment, Canada is a leader in exploring this technology, and stands to become a market leader for this technology. The current fiber networks, protected by quantum key distribution (QKD) techniques, face a fundamental limitation in range over which keys can be exchanged due to attenuation losses in fiber. This paper describes a Low Earth Orbit asset, which can provide a means of interconnecting fiber networks, over global distances, by supplying provably secure encryption keys, which are guaranteed to be copy-proof, and eavesdropper-proof. The orbiting asset must be capable of single-photon exchange between space and ground.
The BRITE-Constellation mission, comprised of five nearly identical 7-kg nanosatellites, is to study the most luminous stars in the Earth’s sky. In the push to observe ever fainter objects, these apparently bright stars, despite being prominent members of our most familiar constellations, have been poorly studied and are not well understood. Typically massive and short lived, through their turbulent lives and via their especially violent deaths as supernovae, these stars dominate the ecology of the Universe and are responsible for seeding the interstellar medium with elements critical for the formation of planetary systems and organic life. Using three-centimeter aperture telescopes for differential photometry, BRITE-Constellation measures brightness variations in two colours, at the milli-magnitude level (a precision at least 10 times better than what is currently achievable from ground based observations) in order to understand the internal and surface structures, and histories of these massive luminous stars.
BRITE-Constellation, which was launched into orbit in 2013 and 2014, was developed by the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) in collaboration with astronomers and engineers from Canada, Austria and Poland. Each of the three countries contributed to the financing of the satellites. All satellites are based upon a design developed and implemented by SFL. Through this international collaboration, the constellation boasts not just the smallest astronomy satellites ever flown, but also the first spacecraft at this scale to achieve arc-second level pointing, the first Austrian spacecraft, the first scientific satellites for Poland, and is believed to be the first satellite constellation dedicated to astronomy. As such, the mission has garnered a tremendous amount of public support and interest in all countries involved, and generally world-wide.
This paper describes the goals, key design and operational challenges, on-orbit performance, and highlights the rich scientific returns of this cutting-edge mission.
Perturbations in the ionospheric plasma density most frequently appear in the form of discrete regions of waves. At low and middle latitudes, these perturbations are thought to provide the seeds for larger amplitude perturbations that may evolve non-linearly to produce irregularities. However, there is currently no comprehensive atlas of measurements describing the global spatial or temporal distribution of wave-like perturbations in the ionosphere.
The SORTIE mission is a 6U CubeSat mission with team members from ASTRA, AFRL, UTD, and COSMIAC. The SORTIE spacecraft is designed to approach the complex challenges in discovering the wave-like plasma perturbations in the ionosphere. SORTIE will provide the initial spectrum of wave perturbations which are the starting point for the RF calculation, provide measured electric fields which determine the magnitude of the RT growth rate near where EPBs are generated, and will provide initial observations of the irregularities in plasma density which result from RT growth. These measurements will compliment the already important measurements being taken from the C/NOFS satellite and will be used to generate inputs for ionospheric models.
The SORTIE mission is slated to launch in late 2016, and will provide a timely overlap with NASA’s ICON mission scheduled to launch in the 2017 timeframe. The baseline operational plan will be a year of on-orbit lifetime orbiting at a low to middle inclination orbit near 350-400 km altitude.
Though it is not clear that currently proposed constellation satellites will be designed for robotic handling, it will happen eventually. Accessibility is a major issue. And the placement of components and the areas of structural stiffness are significant ‘real estate’ considerations. ‘Hard points’ are normally the high value locations.
The presentation will assume the satellite is to be launched in a conventional fashion (as opposed to assembled on-orbit). This implies accepting launch authority rules (launcher interface configuration, minimum frequency requirement and finite element model for coupled launch analysis). Thus a stiff base plate will be assumed in this design approach.
The selection of components to be considered as potential ORU’s (orbit replaceable units) is a major design driver with long term mass implications (Canadarm 1 vs 2 is a stark example). If there are any ORU’s, obviously they need to be accessible. And if a robot is to handle the structure, either before operation, or after, one stiff easy to access, robotic interface is needed. But the rest of the backbone structure can be buried.
The first major constellation to include a robotic interface has the potential to set the standard.
The design and finite element analysis of a small satellite configured for robotic release from ISS will be used to illustrate a microsat with robotic handling considered. It is based on maximizing stiffness/mass ratio. It is also based on performing very early FE analysis (www.gve.on.ca/FEfirst.html) to allow for early prediction of resonant frequencies and component vibration spectra.
Designers of mass produced satellites should particularly consider early stage predictions of launch vibration spectra, because the spectra will drive cost and reliability of components. Specifying vibration levels for components is sometimes done by applying significant margins of safety to vibration spectra levels. But such an approach increases cost, at the same time as lowering reliability. Over tested components are more likely to fail.
The issue of minimizing mass is very important for large satellites, but less so for the very smallest ones. It is unlikely that a large constellation of mid-sized satellites will ignore mass considerations. For groups of satellites to be released from the same launch vehicle, it would be desirable that no significant satellite resonances coincide with that of the launcher.
The goal of Deep Space Industries is to create an industrial economy that enables the human development of space, by developing the capability to harvest and utilize space resources. However, while its vision for the future is grand, its initial plans involve starting small, by leveraging the capabilities of small spacecraft to prospecting missions to Near Earth Asteroids. This talk will discuss how small, low-cost spacecraft can be used to undertake interplanetary missions, with an emphasis on the plans of Deep Space Industries’ plans, as well as discussing other examples of small, low-cost space exploration missions.
Traditional government programs have been standalone entities with occasional coordination, particularly for space technologies, with the onus on the individual companies to seek out relevant programs. A rarer model is the industry consortium, which often involves significant preparation time and effort, dedicated funding sources, and often dedicated overhead management for service delivery.
NRC-IRAP is experimenting with a hybrid model in the form of cluster funding. This model consists of a loosely tied group of companies with low overhead and nimble arrangement, focused on an aligned common goal that enables or opens new markets. The group seeks coordinated funding via a cluster strategy that may include leveraging multiple sources of investment for specific projects. IRAP is particularly well situated to coordinate activities and strategy. The recent IRAP Concierge program provides knowledge and relationships to funding programs at all levels of government. IRAP's Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) must know (and protect) the intimate details of each client company as a matter of delivering IRAP services. ITAs are often brought in as reviewers and advisors for other government and consortium-based programs. IRAP and ITA performance goals are also directed at SME client growth so there is a vested interest in the success of the firms. IRAP can also offer potential funding opportunities for projects or clusters as well as financial support the cluster service itself.
Some examples are presented along with challenges and potential application to emerging market needs in space such as SmallSats
Asteroids are extremely diverse bodies, much more diverse than once expected. Every one seen close up, so far, has been different. The idea that these are basically simple bodies, which can be classified well using observations from afar, is looking increasingly laughable. To understand asteroids better, we need close looks at more of them. While in-depth study of many more asteroids would be ideal, even limited information about a larger number of them would help make sense of their diversity.
Orthodox rendezvous missions, even to near-Earth asteroids, take years and operate at vast distances, making them inherently expensive. But every year, a good many asteroids briefly pass quite close to Earth; several times a year, one passes closer than the Moon. If we are willing to settle for short encounters—flybys for fast-moving asteroids, short periods of near-asteroid operations for the occasional slow one—inexpensive small spacecraft could visit several new asteroids per year.
Most of those asteroids are relatively small and hence are first detected only days before closest approach. Nobody is set up to launch spacecraft, even small ones, on such short notice. However, given capable onboard propulsion, they can be launched in advance, and boost themselves out of parking orbit when assigned a target. This works much better from high orbit than from LEO; Space Systems Loral’s new PODS launch service will soon provide affordable small-payload piggyback launches to GSO.
SCRAMBLE would combine UTIAS-SFL’s microsatellite technology with a high-performance propulsion module and PODS launches, to do simple, quick basic reconnaissance of multiple near-Earth asteroids at microsatellite prices. It would also qualify Canadian low-cost satellite technology for service in high orbit and deep space, opening the door to more ambitious future missions.
The first spacecraft using this newly developed bus is already under contract and in production for launch in 2017.
This paper will provide an overview of the work SSTL has conducted on its new ‘design-for-manufacture’ approach and provide an example platform configuration for Space Surveillance and Situation awareness.
The world is changing rapidly and micro and nanosatellite missions, systems and services have brought about a genuine paradigm shift in EO and Satellite Communications with enabling capabilities now available for a mere fraction of the cost of previous national-scale projects, reducing the barrier to entry for emerging space nations and paving the way for unprecedented levels of in-space infrastructure (e.g. commercial communications mega-constellations). While national space budgets remain under pressure, the persistent, natural appeal of space exploration has led to a marked growth particularly over the last 3-4 years in global efforts to extend some of the micro-space approaches and technologies that have so transformed EO and Sat Com to missions beyond earth orbit and similarly revolutionize space science and exploration.
Advances in LEO microsat and nanosat subsystems have led to many of the traditional barriers to small deep space missions receding: e.g. processing capabilities and detector / instrument technologies in smaller packages, micro-mechanisms becoming increasingly efficient and robust. Meanwhile, by flying as secondary hosted / piggyback spacecraft alongside a primary mission, it is possible to craft mission architectures whereby propulsion and communications back to earth are no longer necessarily showstoppers. As such the first wave of small spacecraft missions in exploration are now underway – albeit initially more modest missions to orbital destinations (NASA HEOMD-SMD cubesats) and short duration planetary surface destinations (e.g. GLXP).
Canada has globally-recognized capability and potential in the area of micro-space with examples such as MOST still hailed as a poster child for the potential of small space beyond traditional EO and Sat Com. Investment in small systems has begun to increase again and indications are that Canada’s micro-space capabilities are set to flourish just as national budgets demand closer examination of lower cost options for Canada’s path forward in space exploration.
At the same time the challenges remain numerous. The frontier of space exploration today features missions facing more remote destinations, more challenging environments, greater unknowns, longer durations and / or more ambitious in situ capabilities. All under the tighter resource constraints associated with smaller, lower cost missions. Success often demands a combination of both state of the art technology advancement and careful, clever system design to eke out the maximum possible performance from subsystem combinations pushed to their limit.
This presentation considers several of the challenges facing micro and nano approaches to near term space exploration, and summarizes several examples of technology development being undertaken today by Canadensys and partners that aim to address these, from electromechanical robustness to advanced thermal control and energy storage.
Continuing increase and integration of small space assets as part of existing infrastructure of Internet of Things (IoT) requires small, low power and cost effective solution that enables encrypted high speed communication between deployed satellites, airborne aerial vehicles as well as ground segments for exchange of commands, telemetry and data. Based on high performance integrated RF transceiver and low cost components, Aflare’s proposed and designed solution enables reliable and secure links between network nodes while supporting practical flexibility and efficiency in user configurable data rates, output power levels and power consumption.
Small satellites are a field where Canada has long held a leadership role - with successful missions like MOST and successful institutions for flight project development and training like UTIAS - and yet this leadership role is increasingly in question as Silicon Valley space companies and NASA both embrace small satellites as areas for major new investment and development. The paper will set out, based on the personal experience of the author working at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley on small satellite projects and at NASA Headquarters in areas related to national space policy, lessons learned from recent US business and programmatic innovations that could be applied in Canada and contribute to a Canadian small satellite renaissance.
The paper will describe the evolving landscape of the US small satellite sector based on the work of NASA’s Emerging Space Office which monitors and evaluates private sector space initiatives on behalf of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. In particular, attention will be paid to the recent wave of small satellite company formation and investment in Silicon Valley, as well as the business models, NASA activities, and overall Silicon Valley culture that have made these new companies and investments possible. Observations will be made regarding the aspects of this business environment that may be replicable and applicable in a Canadian context.
The paper will also describe the role of national space policy in supporting the growing democratization of access to space via small satellite technologies. Particular emphasis will be given to the lessons learned from NASA’s ’50 Spacecraft from 50 States’ cubesat launch initiative which was established by the author in coordination with the Advanced Exploration Systems Division of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and which was announced at the inaugural White House Maker Faire in 2014. This initiative could serve as a model for a similar effort in Canada and observations will be made regarding the potential opportunities and challenges of conducting such an initiative in Canada.
Designed and built using the latest COTS based drives and motors and controlled with an all new Az/El and RaDec software interface. High accuracy absolute encoders are used for position feedback however two loops are actually used on each axis, speed and position, for precise overall machine control.
For the larger sizes the construction techniques used include high strength steel pedestals with highly accurate and strong azimuth and elevation bearing systems, multiple precision adjustable stretch formed aluminum panels, carbon fiber subreflectors and accurate subreflector positioning systems. Detailed FEA analysis is used as a primary design optimization tool.
The structural designs make possible high accuracy mechanical axis intersections and highly stable reference point positions making it simpler to phase several smaller systems together to achieve much better G/T or EIRP performance than from a single dish. It is widely accepted that combining several smaller (12m) dishes are better than one large (>18m) one for critical applications because of the inherent redundancy, lower costs and improved performances now possible. RX and TX/RX active combining is possible and has already been demonstrated at X band using 3, 12m systems and using novel combining techniques.
Target applications for these systems so far include the Owens Valley Enhanced solar array, NASA’s KaBoom planetary defense radar, the VLBI2010/VGOS geodetic VLBI system and several other projects.
The microgravity conditions of space offers a unique environment to perform drug research with the potential to lead to new therapeutic products. Microgravity provides an opportunity for experimentation in the absence of thermally-induced convection, no sedimentation/stratification, no hydrostatic pressure, and reduced contact with vessel walls. The potential scientific, technological and commercial benefits of microgravity research to humankind are substantial, especially in the drug discovery sector and will revolutionize traditional Earth-bound processing methods.
Today access to microgravity research is limited to government space agencies, performed only by astronauts at the International Space Station, very expensive, long waiting list and the process involves a lot of bureaucracy. SpacePharma approach is to simplify this complicated process making it more accessible, affordable and valuable, bypassing the obstacles through remote-controlled nanosatellite microgravity lab platforms commanded and controlled from ground by the scientists.
SpacePharma has developed sophisticated end-to-end miniaturized lab systems provided with sensors and readers capable of working in different microgravity platforms, ground simulators, parabolic flights, and nano-satellites. All experiments are remotely controlled and commanded by the users using SpacePharma’s scientist front-end proprietary software installed in a laptop or smartphone. Scientists can see the results using miniature readers like light microscope or spectrometer incorporated close to the reaction chamber. Customized lab-on-chips microfluidics-based fluid handling system generating microdroplets are used to perform colloidal chemistry or biological experiments increasing significantly the magnitude of microgravity research in the near future.
Under conditions of microgravity, symptoms develop more rapidly and therefore solutions can be accelerated. For example, in microgravity bacterial virulence and pathogenicity increases, and several bacteria were shown to become more resistant to common antibiotics presenting enhanced biofilm formation. Thus, microgravity has the potential to lead to the identification of novel regulation of genes, providing new potential targets for vaccine and development of new antibiotic drugs.
Microgravity allows for optimal growth of unique, orderly, and high-quality crystal structures of proteins in the absence of gravity or convection to disrupt their growth resulting in the discovery of more potent drug inhibitors. Ion-channels are sensitive to gravity changes, therefore, pharmacological ion-channel model assays under microgravity would facilitate drug screening and discovery.
Preliminary feasibility studies have shown the ability of SpacePharma’s SatLabs to perform chemical reactions, protein/drug crystallization, self-assembling of macromolecules, enzymatic reactions, bacterial growth and stem cell culturing using a variety of generic lab-on-chip microfluidic devices.
This presentation will focus on the domestic and international regulatory obligations with respect to access to spectrum/orbital resources. The Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISEDC - formerly Industry Canada) is responsible for spectrum management in Canada and is also responsible for securing access to orbital resources through the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The presentation will include an overview of Canada’s spectrum licensing framework for satellites, as well as the process for applying for a licence. It will also discuss the application process for earth stations.
When applying for a space station (satellite) licence, a parallel process must be undertaken with the ITU, via the Department, to secure the international rights to frequencies and orbital resources. The presentation will briefly address the ITU process for registration and coordination, as well as the obligations of satellite operators. The international regulations are updated every few years during the World Radicocommunication Conference. One was just held in November 2015. The presentation will touch upon the outcome of the conference as it relates to smallsat operators.
In order to ensure that the components of the University of Alberta Ex-Alta 1 cube satellite operate within safe temperature ranges, a series of increasingly detailed thermal models were developed to calculate the transient thermal behaviour of the satellite. The first approach was a lumped capacity analysis that treated the satellite as an effective homogeneous mass with a uniform temperature. This analysis offered an estimate of the effective temperature ranges and the response time of the satellite, allowing for an assessment about the need for active thermal management early on in the design process. The thermal model was then approximated in significant detail by using thermal circuit analysis. This approach offers significant insight into the temperature profile within the satellite and allows for analysis of a number of relevant thermal scenarios and possible design implementations. While the ultimate model is based on a detailed, realistic Finite Element Analysis (FEA), the computational cost of this approach only makes it feasible for relatively short transients. The thermal circuit approach offers the best balance between level of detail and simulation cost.
For the thermal circuit model, all components that are significant in generating thermal power and producing thermal resistance and capacitance for the Ex-Alta 1 cube satellite were represented using equivalent circuits and sub-circuits. These circuits were implemented in the circuit simulation program, LTSpice, to take advantage of its convenient graphical interface and extensive solver capabilities. In LTSpice, heat sources are represented as current sources, thermally resistive pathways as resistors, and thermal capacities are represented by capacitors. By analogy, the voltage measurement at a node in the circuit denotes the temperature of the corresponding component in degrees Kelvin. Individual components such as PCBs, solar panels, washers and spacers are modelled as sub-circuits and instantiated into the main circuit. The LTSpice model also accounts for the thermal power absorbed through the six faces of the cube satellite throughout an orbit, which allows for accurate transient analysis in a variety of relevant orbits.
The end goal of the thermal model is to obtain estimates of temperature ranges experienced by different satellite components (e.g. solar cells, battery, electronic components) and compare the results to design specifications. After supporting the design phase by ensuring that components are within an acceptable temperature range during expected scenarios, the model will also be used in support of operations, to assess the impact that thermal conditions have on satellite operations.
Space debris is the collection of defunct objects in orbit around Earth, including spent rocket stages, lost or released mission equipment, old satellites and fragments from disintegration, erosion and collisions. Debris orbit the Earth alongside operational satellites, often intersecting their orbits. This growing cloud of debris in Low-Earth Orbit is widely recognized as a problem that can no longer be ignored by space faring nations, particularly since the 2007 Fengyun-1C disintegration and the 2009 Cosmos2251/Iridium33 collision resulted in thousands of new pieces of uncontrolled space debris in valuable Low-Earth-Orbits (LEO).
All space actors recognize the importance of avoiding the Kessler syndrome, where new collisions would create new debris at a rate faster than natural forces could remove them, resulting in a runaway chain reaction of cascading collisions and rendering Earth orbit impossible to use for generations. Some computer models predict that the critical density for the Kessler Syndrome may have already been reached in certain orbital bands such as the critical sun-synchronous polar orbit at ~800km which is used for Earth observation satellites and where some high-profile debris creation events have occurred. Satellites in these orbits must routinely take corrective measures (collision avoidance maneuvers) when warned of impending high-risk close approaches. However, many operational satellites are non-maneuverable, making them perpetually at risk for any space debris that might intersect their orbits.
At the international level, the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space as well as the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee established guidelines for space debris mitigation. At the national level, countries have established corresponding measures. These guidelines and measures aim at both reducing the generation of potentially harmful space debris in the near term as well as limiting the generation over the long term.
Today’s space debris sensors are able to detect and track only a relatively small percentage – some 23,000 pieces of debris objects larger than 10cm - with some 500,000 smaller space debris objects going undetected. For tracked space debris, satellite owners and operators are routinely warned by the United States’ Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) about upcoming close approaches that threaten their operational satellites. The presentation will also review measures in place to daily manage the issues facing operational satellites.
Aleksandr is a nanosatellite of 10 cm x 10 cm x 30 cm as a 3U CubeSat designed and built by the Space Concordia team at Concordia University during the second and third entry into the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC). Its mission is to study the long-term performance of a new self-healing material in a microgravity environment. This material is developed at Concordia’s Centre for Composites (CONCOM). The uplink and downlink communication system of Aleksandr depends on a single antenna, and the separation of the transmitted and received signal is achieved by a diplexer. In this work, the novel antenna design is implemented and fabricated at Concordia’s Antenna and Microwave Research Center Laboratories. The antenna is made of spring-steel, the attachment of the arches are designed to be flexible and easy to fold around the nanosatellite and to straighten themselves in the deployment stage. The antenna consists of a λ/4 monopole attached to two separate parabolas which generate two different resonant modes at 146 MHz and 438 MHz. The resonant modes optimization can be achieved easily by two parabolas, the first controls lower band, and second controls the upper band which greatly enhances the impedance bandwidth. The dual-frequency antenna operates with - 10 dB impedance bandwidths for bands from 136 to 160.4 MHz and 416 to 466 MHz. In addition, the proposed antenna maintains good omnidirectional radiation patterns over the operating bands, and achieves a gain of 1.97 dB at 146 MHz and 3.04 dB at 438 MHz in simulations.
One of the rationales for government (versus business) involvement in worthwhile endeavours is that governments are in a better position to undertake risk that otherwise would pose a significant barrier of entry to private firms. Examples of this are the early commitment to railway development in Canada in the 19th Century, as well as the early exploration of space by NASA in the 20th Century. At some point, however, it is prudent for private enterprise to take over. NASA, for example, has recently begun contracting to businesses for launch services to the International Space Station. And yet, there are still areas of space exploration where a government agency such as NASA can play a valuable role.
So what is the right balance, and when is it best to turn interests over to the private sector? And how?
Opinions about the current level of government involvement in space exploration range from "too much" to "too little". Too much participation can result in undue competition with the private sector and also keep public costs high; on the other hand, not enough involvement can stifle innovation and progress.
This presentation will examine a model to describe the right balance of government involvement and infer some recommendations for the role of the Canadian Space Agency in supporting the Small Sat industry.
SmallSat power budgets and power management strategies constrain mission operations once in orbit. They depend on both the orbital dynamics of the spacecraft - such as eclipsing, precession and rotating attitude - and hardware constraints - such as battery capacity and solar cells. It is key to understand the impact of these parameters on power generation, storage and consumption throughout mission planning and execution. Uninformed decisions in the early design cycle will lead to unexpected consequences on power constraints later in the mission. One key area where SmallSat teams struggle is determining available solar power. As a result of limited resources, teams often rely on flawed estimates of the available power for their satellite.
In this presentation, we outline an analytical model for calculating the instantaneous and average available solar power for a satellite. By accounting for the effects of angle of solar incidence and eclipsing, for both stabilized and tumbling satellites, this model allows for fast, simple, calculations that agree with expensive simulation software. The model also surpasses most numerical simulation software, by providing the maximum and minimum solar power across all possible low Earth orbits for both tumbling and attitude stabilized satellites with solar cells facing arbitrary directions.
The benefits of this model result from using a geometric representation of orbits, rather than physics based model. This makes it possible to reduce the problem to a series of equations. We then expanded the model so it can handle orbit inputs in the form of beta angles, Keplerian elements, and two-line element sets. In all cases this model shows close agreement with STK. Furthermore, as a result of its simplicity, the model can quickly account for mission changes such as revised orbit parameters and mission requirements.
This model has already found applications in thermal modeling, development of a comprehensive simulation of power usage, design of an EPS board, and the development of power management software.
Canadians are actively participating in the supply of high performance remote sensing (earth observation) data, products and services for domestic and foreign clients. The Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA) was adopted by Parliament in 2005 and came into force on 29 March 2007 when the Regulations adopted pursuant to the Act were also made effective. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the implementation of the Act and its provisions.
The objective of this presentation is to explain how the RSSSA regulates the operation of remote sensing space systems (including small satellites) and the distribution of data collected by such systems. Key definitions, licensing requirements, application process, potential conditions of licensing, system disposal requirement, amendment/suspension/cancelation of license and the powers provided by this Act to the Government of Canada will be presented.
Since the dawn of the space age, spacecraft design, construction, testing and operation was the realm of large multinational corporations, well funded government space agencies and select few academic institutions. Then, in 1999, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) changed the world by introducing the Cube Satellite (CS), a standardized, low cost and modular satellite platform, to the space sector. This has allowed academic institutions, small countries and commercial entities to own and operate space assets for an affordable price. As a result, CS launches have increased exponentially since their introduction.
The role of the CS is expanding in the space industries academic and private sectors with most applications focused on Earth observation missions. This is a clear departure from traditional methods (large, expensive and customized Earth observation satellites (EOS) in the space industry. An interesting question arises, which technology is better, the classical EOS or the CS?
To answer this question, a trade study was completed comparing CS’s and classical EOS’s in low earth orbit (LEO). Cost and schedule were compared using methods for cost and time estimation for space missions in the conceptual design phase; however operational costs and overhead were omitted. Additionally, risk of mission failure between the cases is analyzed however; project and operational risks were not considered. Lastly, coverage area and spatial resolution are analyzed for a generic payload to compare observational capability.
Five cases were analyzed within the scope of both technologies:
1. 3U Cube Satellite
2. 50 3U Cube Satellite Swarm (CSS)
3. Micro EOS (10 – 100 kg)
4. Small EOS (100 – 500 kg)
5. Large EOS (>500 kg)
It was found that the best choice for Earth observation is the use of CSS’s over classical EOS’s in terms of cost, schedule, and risk. The cost, while having a similar order of magnitude to the smallest of classical EOS's , is flexible and scalable compared to classical EOS’s. The schedule is similar to micro EOS’s, but vastly improved over small and large EOS’s. Finally, the risk is much smaller. We note here that payloads are the deciding factor in the choice to use CSS’s. The next best alternative is the micro EOS. The choice between both technologies, while skewed towards CSS’s, will come down to payload choice and the return on investment of the mission. Lastly, Earth observation payloads currently in service should be reduced in size for accommodation on board a CS.
This paper will review how Canada’s space partners are embracing or challenged by smallsats in the policy arena and the implications for Canada’s approach to the smallsat revolution. Smallsats bring both benefits and stressors; capabilities balanced with regulations that are required to fully leverage smaller, cheaper, and more plentiful satellites that bring a host of new applications. The US government is leveraging the agility of smallsat development as part of ensuring resiliency in an uncertain space environment. Similarly, commercial smallsats are increasingly finding their way in the intelligence community and are set to contribute to national weather services. In an effort to corner 10% of the global space market, the UK is presented an opportunity to focus on smallsat hardware as part of its innovation strategy and space policy, with its home-grown space industry. New Zealand is set to host a smallsat launch business that will test their government’s regulatory structure and requires government oversight. Canada is presented with the same challenges and opportunities as our international partners. Lessons learned and recommendations for the Canadian government will be derived from international partners who are undertaking similar efforts.
Recent electric propulsion research in the field of Hall Thrusters has developed relatively high thrust efficiencies in the order of 45-55% for large thrusters of half a kilowatt to a few kilowatts. This technology has enabled deep space missions and extended station-keeping capabilities. Although conventional hall thrusters operate efficiently at high power levels, this statement does not hold true when scaling down for a power and volume constrained microsatellite mission. In order to address this issue, the traditional Annular Hall Thruster has been modified to have a cylindrical ionization chamber, thus bearing the name Cylindrical Hall Thruster. The cylindrical ionization chamber configuration decreases plasma wall interactions in the ionization chamber and has been shown to be more efficient in lower power operation. To enable more advanced microsatellite missions, the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) was contracted by the Canadian Space Agency to develop a low power electric propulsion system compatible with microsatellites. The program lead to the development of a SFL’s prototype Cylindrical Hall thruster which has demonstrated the ability to sustain stable operation between 15 – 300 W with an efficiency of 5% - 27% respectively. Test results at the nominal 200 W power level show 6 mN of thrust with a specific impulse of 1140 s using Xenon propellant. The prototype thruster was initially developed to be reconfigurable which allowed the parameters such as propellant flow rate, magnetic field and electric field to be experimentally tuned to find the best configuration. After determining a suitable thruster configuration for stable thruster operation, a refined protoflight thruster has been developed. By using permanent magnets instead of electromagnets, a mass savings of 70% was achieved with a thruster mass of only 500 grams. At 95 mm long and 58 mm in diameter, the thruster was designed to fit in a 1U CubeSat standard volume will be flight qualified to TRL 6. This paper will present and compare the performance results using both Xenon and Argon propellant of the prototype and protoflight thruster.
The Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC) is a Canada-wide competition for teams of university students to design and build a cubesat satellite. The primary objective of the competition is to launch the winning team’s satellite, in order to conduct its science mission; however, there are several additional objectives, intended to help build space knowledge and research and development capability at the university level.
A key element of the CSDC is “hands-on” workshops at which participating students acquire space industry skills in diverse areas of space mission design and development, such as assembling solar panels in a cleanroom, subjecting potential cubesat components to a simulated space radiation environment, and conducting random vibration testing on their finished cubesat prototypes.
The CSDC follows a simplified project schedule, with milestone deliverable documents and a Critical Design Review. With this format, the CSDC not only gives participants a intensive immersion into spacecraft and space mission design and engineering, but in project and team management.
The CSDC also has an Educational Outreach component, whereby each team is required to give presentations to a variety of audiences. Specific among these are pre-university (elementary and secondary) students, with the goal of inspiring and motivating them to pursue post-secondary education in science or engineering disciplines.
In this paper and presentation, the author will present results from the first three competitions, focusing on results from the “hands-on” workshops and testing activities which help foster new space expertise and capability at Canada’s universities, and on Educational Outreach efforts which the teams have dedicated to younger students.
Space Concordia is currently competing in the 3rd Iteration of the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC) with a new team and a new satellite, Aleksandr. It is a huge challenge for full-time Undergraduate students to work on such a complicated project in an extracurricular basis. Space Concordia has accumulated valuable knowledge and experience in its 5 years of CubeSat development for the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge. Many problems have risen from the team’s initial lack of knowledge on anything space. However, it is not from their knowledge, but through their passion that the team has succeeded in winning first place in the first iteration of CSDC and winning second place on the second iteration. The team has developed a basis for integrating new members into the complicated environment of space engineering. The Aleksandr team hopes that through sharing of their experience, they can increase support for student-based competition and inspire the next generation of students.
Aleksandr is a satellite which has been in development by Space Concordia since 2012 and its mission is to study the long-term performance of a new self-healing material in a microgravity environment. This new technology was developed by Dr Suong. V. Hoa, a professor at Concordia University. This self-healing material is of high interest for the aerospace community. If a self-healing shield were to be implemented on a spacecraft, it would be better protected from micro particle impacts.
Technical difficulties for the satellite include, but are not limited to, integration of a mechanical payload within a CubeSat, thermal and vibrational analysis of the satellite, and more importantly of the payload module, necessity for redundant systems within software, as well as integration of strict launch requirements.
Some additional complications also emerge from the extra-curricular and student-based nature of Space Concordia. This includes, but is not limited to, lack of experience and funds, balancing satellite development with full-time studies, inconsistent members due to graduation or various other reasons, and much more.
NanoRacks, a leader in commercial services on the International Space Station (ISS), has been deploying CubeSats from the ISS since 2012. It was not until February 2014, however, that the true impact of the ISS on the CubeSat market was realized. During this time, 33 CubeSats were deployed from the ISS via the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD). This was unprecedented and created the ability to regularly deploy constellations of CubeSats into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). To date, NanoRacks has deployed a total of 96 CubeSats from the ISS, with 48 deployed in 2015 alone.
Since the first deployments via the NRCSD in 2014, NanoRacks has worked closely with NASA and JAXA to continue exploring options to increase the capacity for CubeSat deployments from the ISS. One of the main challenges in doing so is the limited amount of JEM airlock cycles available. To combat this, NanoRacks has developed the non-traditional 6U NRCSD design to optimize the volume of the JEM airlock on board the ISS. In addition to increased capacity for CubeSats on the ISS, the demand from the small satellite community for non-traditional form factors has notably increased. This was the main driving force for the development of the Kaber Small Satellite Deployment System, which has the capacity to deploy satellites from the ISS up to approximately 65 kilograms in mass via a separation ring. Without the rigid constraints of a traditional CubeSat deployer interface, this new commercial small satellite deployer on the ISS can support a wide variety of form factors.
The accompanying presentation will offer an industry perspective on the role of the ISS in the small satellite industry, analyzing the launch and deployment process and how it differs from traditional launch services. A particular focus will be placed on international partnerships NanoRacks has fostered, emphasizing some of the challenges and benefits to launching non-US payloads to the ISS. The presentation will also offer a brief look at how the increasing demand and agility inherent to the small satellite community is helping drive the commercial utilization of the ISS. Payload integration highlights and mission examples demonstrating rapid innovation cycles will be displayed.
Ex-Alta 1, the Experimental Albertan #1, is the pioneer cube satellite from the AlbertaSat team at the University of Alberta and will be the first built-in-Alberta satellite. This three-unit (3U) cube satellite is designed and assembled primarily by volunteer undergraduate students at the University of Alberta, with guidance from several researchers and faculty members. Once in orbit, Ex-Alta 1 will study space weather using a range of miniature scientific instruments. This flight will also be used to qualify the first model of a new suite of open source cube satellite subsystems being developed at the University of Alberta.
Ex-Alta 1 is one of two Canadian satellites participating in the QB50 mission, coordinated by the Von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium. Ex-Alta 1 joined the QB50 mission in mid 2013. Over the past two years the AlbertaSat team has met QB50’s design, payload, and testing criteria while operating within a schedule that leaves little room for error. In July of 2016 all participating cube satellites in the QB50 mission, including Ex-Alta 1, will be transported to the International Space Station. Astronauts will use the NanoRacks deployer to deploy them into low earth orbit at a later specified date.
Ex-Alta 1 is equipped with three scientific payloads. The Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe experiment, developed at the University of Oslo, will study variations in ion densities in low earth orbit, as well as the effects of the lower thermosphere as the orbit decays. A miniaturised Digital Fluxgate Magnetometer developed and built by a PhD Candidate at the University of Alberta will be deployed at the end of a 60 cm boom to study the Earth’s magnetic field in low Earth orbit. Finally, a radiation dosimeter onboard Ex-Alta 1 will measure variation in radiation levels in low Earth orbit.
The Athena on-board computer for cube satellites is part of the open source Open CubeSat Platform (OCP), and was designed and built by senior undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. It will be tested and qualified on the Ex-Alta 1 mission, and will then form the foundation for future cube satellite projects carried out by the AlbertaSat team.
SSL’s Payload Orbital Delivery System (PODS) will create an environment where launch opportunities for SmallSat missions to GTO/GEO and beyond are frequently available and cost-effective to procure. We believe that the introduction of this capability will create a “tipping point” for beyond-LEO SmallSats, in the same way that frequent and cost-effective access to LEO has recently created exponential growth in the number of LEO SmallSat missions. The first PODS launch is set for March 2017 with regular opportunities that follow.
The PODS service offers frequent SmallSat access to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) by providing rideshare opportunities on our 6-8 commercial GEO communication satellite launches each year. SmallSats ranging from CubeSats to Microsatellites are easily accommodated with our standard design but we can also accommodate larger rideshares in a number of situations. Not only does the SSL PODS service offer frequent launch opportunities, it also offers a reliable launch date that is tied to a commercial contract. The benefit of this is that the SmallSat developer will not experience recurrent and potentially lengthy launch date slips.
SmallSat applications that are enabled by this launch capability include Space Situational Awareness, Technology Demo with Rapid Refresh, Deep Space Exploration (Moon, Mars, Asteroid), Resupply of GEO Infrastructure for Satellite Servicing, Persistent Earth Imaging, GEO Constellations, and more.
SSL has over 50 years of experience designing satellites that operate beyond Low Earth Orbit. As a result, we can provide a SmallSat bus and dispenser as a turn-key solution for organizations that want to focus on their mission payload instead of spending resources designing a deep-space compatible bus or release mechanism. Our affiliate company MDA has designed a PODS-compatible SmallSat dispensing system that is capable of reliably releasing SmallSats up to 90kg with a very low tumble rate.
We are excited to enable the next wave of SmallSat missions that will travel beyond LEO by providing frequent, cost-effective, reliable, and potentially turnkey, access to GTO and/or GEO.
At SEDS‐Canada, we inspire and empower student space enthusiasts to join the space industry. There is a lot of potential for growth in inter‐university competitions in Canada and we are embarking on a plan to create and fund several competitions in the near future.
In our first year, we have launched the Young Space Entrepreneurs (Y‐SpacE) competition which allows students to propose novel ideas and develop business plans that can benefit the space sector. Teams are tasked to submit executive summaries by January 15th. The top 5 teams will be invited to present their proposals to a panel of judges in a final round which will take place at Ascension 2016, our annual conference. This year, it will be hosted by our UWO chapter, Space Society of London, from March 4th to 6th. The Y‐SpacE competition will empower students with real‐world skills, inspire them to pursue careers in space, and allow them to connect with other students from STEM fields, business, economics and law.
We are also working to release two more competitions:
i) SkyPixels ‐ Our astrophotography competition, which will allow participants to hone their skills in optical astronomy, photography and image processing, while also giving them an opportunity to present their work to a panel of judges experienced in the area.
ii) Chapter Grant Program ‐ To fully accomplish a particular project at a chapter level, students need to spend some time raising funds. To support the activities and goals of its chapters, SEDS‐Canada will work to secure funds that will be allocated to a select chapter through a competitive grant program.
In the future, we plan to create competitions in rocketry and robotics as currently, Canadian university teams travel to Utah to compete in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition organized by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, and the University Rover Challenge organized by the Mars Society.
We believe that these challenges for Canadian student groups will not only foster healthy competition amongst our chapters, but will create opportunities for our generation to spur future growth in the space sector.
The Open CubeSat Platform (OCP) is AlbertaSat’s opensource cube satellite hardware and software design. OCP provides an onboard computer and IO board called Athena with schematics, layouts, and command and data handling software. The software provides four key routines: fully automated error detection and handling, deployment and early orbit phase, data processing and logging, and dynamic control of peripheral hardware via scripting. OCP will have its first flight on AlbertaSat’s ExAlta 1 mission.
Error detection and handling routines run with master control of the power to peripheral boards. It will detect errors and, if necessary, power down and decommission grossly malfunctioning peripherals until commanded otherwise via the ground station. The deployment and early orbit routine runs one time immediately after the cubesat is deployed in space, including bring up of communications system, first time diagnostics, and deploying payloads. The data processing and logging routine commits important data to permanent storage, in real time. It’s designed to be conducive to asynchronous data updates, such as file transfer protocol (FTP) services deleting data. Finally, scripting gives researchers precise control over when, where, and how their payloads operate. In addition, systems engineers can use this feature to script locations for downlinking data to receiveonly ground stations. Data downlinked to receiveonly ground stations is retained until any dropped packets have been requested from a normal transmit/receive ground station and an explicit command to delete the data is received.
Open source satellite designs (software and hardware) will allow multiple universities to rapidly develop and adapt it to their specific mission requirements. OCP is licensed under the GNU general public licence (GPL), version 2. Under these terms, anyone building on this code (for instance, to support additional scientific instruments) would in turn release their source code and designs, further enriching the cubesat community. When questions about satellite operation arise, or unexpected behaviour is encountered, the source code (or schematics in the case of hardware) provides the ultimate documentation.
As rideshare launches become more commonplace, secondary payloads continue to be challenged by the limited choice of orbits, upper stage restart capability and risk-averse nature of primary payloads to allow for flexibility in the deployment sequence. The result is that a secondary payload’s final orbit is limited by its host and the propulsion capability of the individual spacecraft, particularly so for cubesat class passengers. Many of these challenges can be met through the use of a propulsive rideshare adapter or Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV). In addition, the use of an OMV to act as both a long-term host for payloads, as well as a traditional tug, has enabled novel mission concepts such as hub and spoke architectures for communications and data processing functionality for distributed sensing systems.
Moog has analyzed, developed and supported numerous missions employing OMV functionality. In this paper a number of case studies are described to illustrate the utility, value and flexibility of the OMV as a mission enabling technology. Cases examined include:
The performance of small satellite technology continues to improve at an exponential pace but, if small satellites continue to compromise optimal orbit for general space access, true potential cannot be fulfilled. In each of the scenarios identified, the particular use of an OMV gives rise to a number of shared launch opportunities that would not have previously been considered and improves the overall access to space for rideshare passengers.
CubeSats have become tremendously successful in recent years; according to Science Magazine, 132 CubeSats were launched in 2014 alone. The success of these microsatellites is largely owed to their high degree of modularity which makes designs of essential subsystems reusable on multiple missions. A common challenge in microsatellite projects is implementing these essential subsystems. Specific interfacing limitations and high costs of proprietary commercial CubeSat subsystems make them impractical or impossible to implement on many projects. These challenges have led many design teams to independently create their own set of subsystems, which end up being nearly identical to others, aside from whatever unique features were required. This needlessly takes a significant amount of time and resources away from implementing the payload and primary mission objectives and increases risk due to unproven components. Open-source licensing is a natural solution to this problem and many groups around the world are designing subsystems with plans to make them publically available under open-source licenses. To facilitate communication between these design groups and make it easier for open-source subsystems to be implemented in CubeSat missions, we have created an online community where users and creators of open source CubeSat subsystems can collaborate and share their work.
The main purpose for our online platform was originally to share the Open CubeSat Platform (OCP): a set of open source subsystems and software for CubeSats being developed at the University of Alberta. We created it to provide an easy way for groups around the world to procure open source files and use them on their own CubeSat missions. Open source projects depend heavily on community collaboration. Problems encountered by one team’s development might have already been solved by another team. As a result, an expanded hosting platform that provides a centralized community for cooperation between open source satellite projects could lead to quicker and lower cost development of a microsatellite. Collaboration will also improve mission success and reliability as proven components are shared between teams. Our centralized, community driven file hosting system will make it easier to use open source CubeSat subsystems and make space exploration more accessible to scientists around the world.
