Launch updates - Space blog

Proba-2 Goes Gas

Friday, November 13. 2009

The European Space Agency (ESA) Proba-2 mission has entered its 2 month commissioning period following a successful launch. SSTL’s Microsatellite Gas Propulsion System is on-board the 137kg small satellite and was integrated by the satellite’s manufacturer Verhaert Space Systems.

The Microsatellite Gas Propulsion System is based upon SSTL’s heritage xenon resistojet propulsion system. Its highly cost effective design provides an enhancement over conventional cold gas propulsion.

SSTL's Gas Propulsion System

By using the resistojet thruster to heat the exhaust gas to over 300ºC a 30% increase in efficiency is gained. The electronically controlled pressure regulation improves thrust control compared to conventional mechanically regulated propulsion systems for greater positioning control in orbit.

The warm gas propulsion system is simpler, safer and cleaner than chemical propulsion systems. This makes them ideal for launcher injection correction, constellation station keeping and acquisition and orbit height maintenance for small, low cost spacecraft.

Proba-2 is the follow-on to the highly successful Proba-1 satellite launched in 2001 that carried the Compact High Resolution Imaging Sensor (CHRIS) payload manufactured by SSTL’s Optical Payloads Group. Proba-2 will demonstrate 17 advanced satellite technologies – such as miniaturised sensors for ESA's future space probes and a highly sophisticated CCD camera with a wide angle view of about 120 degrees – while carrying a set of four science instruments to observe the Sun and study the plasma environment in orbit.

A datasheet for the SSTL Microsatellite Gas Propulsion System is available on the SSTL Website.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Launch updates at 08:49 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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UK-DMC2 prepared for launch

Thursday, July 23. 2009

SSTL’s UK-DMC2 satellite has successfully completed pre-launch tests and is integrated with a Dnepr launch vehicle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in readiness for launch on Wednesday, 29th July 2009 at 18:46 UTC, 19:46 BST.

The new satellite will be operated by subsidiary company DMCii to provide an enhanced imaging capability and operational service to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). UK-DMC2 has a number of enhancements over previous DMC spacecraft contributing to SSTL’s continuing evolutionary design approach.

UK-DMC2 carries a higher resolution optical payload which will provide 22m ground sample distance (GSD) images, compared with 32m GSD on the four operational satellites currently in the constellation. The 22m imagery has twice the data density of the 32m imagery without loss of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and maintains the ultra-wide 600+km swath.

SSTL launch services team in Baikonur

The satellite carries two high-speed X-band transmitters that will both operate at 20Mbps or 80Mbps. This will enable the satellite to download images up to 10 times faster than previous DMC spacecraft. Storage capacity has increased from 1 to 1.5 GByte on the first generation of DMC spacecraft up to 12 GByte on UK-DMC2. These advancements, in combination with improved power generation and storage systems, will allow UK-DMC2 to rapidly map large areas such as Europe or other continents.

The advances in data throughput and power generation have enabled two new operational modes. Firstly, a near-real time imaging and downlink mode allows imagery acquired within a ~2000 km radius of a ground station to be downlinked within the same pass and, secondly, the implementation of a broadcast downlink mode that enables customers with a receive-only ground station to receive data directly from UK-DMC2.

These technology improvements not only make the satellite more flexible than previous designs, but also dramatically increase the operational imaging capacity by allowing the satellite to store and download much larger volumes of multi-spectral image data.

In practical terms, the increased imaging capacity means that the satellite has less “dead time”. By fully using the different modes available, this latest DMC satellite will be able to rapidly download significantly more image data than previously possible. The satellite does not need to wait until it has emptied the onboard storage before being re-tasked to acquire further images elsewhere.

As an example, DMCii annually provides coverage of the Amazon Basin. These coverage campaigns have taken 6 weeks to complete with two of the current DMC spacecraft. By comparison, UK-DMC2 on its own can cover the same area in just 11 days.

The 96kg UK-DMC2 satellite is based upon SSTL’s SSTL-100 small satellite platform, which uses solar cells integrated into the spacecraft’s surface to generate power. UK-DMC2 includes an additional deployable solar panel that will increase power generation by approximately 50%.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Launch updates at 13:30 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1 launch buzz

Wednesday, July 15. 2009

SSTL is currently a hive of activity as the two new DMC constellation satellites UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1 are prepared for launch on 25th July.

The Earth observation missions, UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, will be launched onboard a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, 25th July 2009 at 18:46 UTC, 19:46 BST.

The spacecraft, which are both based on the 100kg class SSTL-100 micro satellite platform, will join the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), expanding the constellation to six operational satellites. The new satellites will enhance DMC satellite daily imaging capacity for applications such as deforestation mapping, urban planning, natural resource management, security, agriculture and disaster relief operations.

To find out more about the UK-DMC2 satellite, earth observation applications that it will participate in and its role in international disaster relief efforts visit the UK-DMC2 pages on the SSTL website.

Continue reading "UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1 launch buzz"

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Launch updates at 12:41 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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How many spacecraft can you fit in a Dnepr?

Thursday, May 22. 2008

Fit check in progress showing 2 RapidEye spaceraft.

This may sound like a familiar joke - but for the 5 RapidEye spacecraft built by SSTL a fit-check is an important preparation before the ultimate launch. The SSTL and MDA (the prime) launch teams visited the KB Yuznoye works at Dnepropetrovsk, April 14th – 18th, to conduct a spacecraft fit-check with the Dnepr launch vehicle.

Fit-check is an important event in the launch schedule as its purpose is to technically clear the way for successful integration of the flight spacecraft at the Cosmodrome.

The fit-check established that all the physical interfaces between the spacecraft and the launch vehicle were correct. During meetings, the launch teams were able to qualify the actual route of integration – an especially important activity when, as in this case, five spacecraft are being launched on a single launch vehicle.

So the answer, dear Space Blog reader is 5 - or at least 5 RapidEye spacecraft.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Launch updates at 15:44 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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