Space blog - Remote sensing

CHRIS celebrates 8th year onboard Proba-1

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:37:24 +0000

SSTL is celebrating the 8th year in orbit of the high resolution CHRIS Imager, which was launched on-board the European Space Agency’s PROBA-1 mission, in October 2001.

Chichester Harbour, UK

The Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) is a highly versatile hyperspectral system that was developed by SSTL’s Optical Payload Group. CHRIS was one of many instruments on-board the mission, with the others including a Space Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM) and a Payload Autonomous Star Sensor (PASS).

CHRIS offers the highest spatial resolution of any hyperspectral system currently in orbit and can provide simultaneous images of the Earth in 19 wavebands. This allows for many features of the images it produces to be identified and analysed.

This high resolution imager enables ESA’s Proba-1 mission to acquire detailed images of the Earth. The result – stunning images of natural and urban phenomena.

A cropped CHRIS satellite image of San Diego

Many more images can be seen on ESA’s website including that of the Mauna Kea Volcano, Hawaii and Tokyo.

CHRIS can be used for many applications, including precision farming, disaster monitoring, air quality assessment and seabed classification, and has proved so successful that it has paved the way for advanced sibling CHRIS-2, which allows for other valuable applications to be addressed, including mineralogy and pollution monitoring.

The CHRIS Imager is not the only family to have grown, as the ESA’s Proba-1 mission has now been joined in orbit by Proba-2, which was successfully launched yesterday.

In addition to SSTL's CHRIS hyperspectral imager, ESA's 8-year old PROBA-1 mission has been continuing to depend on a number of sub-systems provided by SSTL (incorporating contributions from Space Innovations Limited). These include the power system, communications system, AOCS sensors, the Data Handling System computer and the SGR-20 Space GPS receiver. All systems remain fully operational in the primary chain of the satellite and have served to enable the extended life imagery capture from the CHRIS and HRC payloads.

British Science Festival kicks off tomorrow

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:52:01 +0000

The time has come around again for The British Science Festival, an event which is organised by the British Science Association, and takes place every September. The University of Surrey, Guildford, will host of the festival this year with further events scheduled throughout the rest of the county. The festivities begin tomorrow, on Saturday 5th September and draw to a close on the 10th.

There are lots of activities to get involved in during the 6 day event, including discussions, plays and talks. SSTL's Sir Martin Sweeting, Andy Bradford, and Dave Hodgson are amongst the speakers at the Festival. Both Bradford and Sweeting hail from local Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), with Hodgson making an appearance from DMC International Imaging Ltd.
Continue reading "British Science Festival kicks off tomorrow"

No Wahala! Nigerian space advances

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:38:00 +0000

Nigeria’s space programme has made further progress this month, as the NigeriaSat-2 and NX Earth observation satellites passed environmental tests.

Nigerian engineers work on NX
(click to enlarge)

Environmental tests comprise a series of rigorous checks that are conducted to simulate the environment in which the spacecraft will operate in space. All spacecraft undergo these tests to validate the designs and to ensure quality control. It is a formal review milestone and a point at which SSTL engineers can identify potential issues for correction.

The NX satellite has been integrated and tested by Nigerian engineers working at SSTL during the past 2 years as part of their training and development programme.

This is the second such programme that SSTL has supplied to NASRDA. In 2003, NigeriaSat-1 was launched into the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) and remains operational. The launch of two further Nigerian satellites into the DMC will ensure continuity of the nation’s space assets as well as a significant advancement in capability through NigeriaSat-2’s high-resolution capability.

Under the current contract with the National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA), SSTL is providing a high-resolution Earth observation satellite, NigeriaSat-2, based on the SSTL-300 platform – the first to be built by SSTL. NX is based on the SSTL-100 platform, which has gained flight heritage through existing satellites in the DMC. Under the supervision of SSTL engineers, NX was built by the Nigerian training engineers, who also took the satellite through its test programme. A Nigerian operations team will also be on hand throughout the launch and commissioning phase, learning the necessary skills to operate the new spacecraft..

Nigerian satellites during testing
(click to enlarge)

The tests include thermal simulation, taking the spacecraft through the extreme ranges of temperature that they will experience in low earth orbit. These tests were conducted in the large space test chamber at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. Each spacecraft was subjected to hot and cold cycles within a temperature range of +60dC to -20dC. Vacuum tests replicated the non-atmospheric environment in which the satellites will operate some 686km above the Earth. Thermal vacuum tests ran over a 5-day, 24-hour period with each subsystem tested individually within the extremes of environment.

The two satellites were then taken to EADS Astrium’s Portsmouth facility for vibration tests that simulate the challenging conditions of launch.

NigeriaSat-2 was then moved to the QinetiQ facilities in Chertsey where electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests were carried out to simulate interference and radiation effects that the satellite and subsystem electronics will face in orbit.

This is an exciting time for the 25 Nigerian engineers who have spent varying periods of time at SSTL and the University of Surrey over the past 2 years, working and studying to achieve the skills that will underpin Nigeria’s ongoing space programme. Both NigeriaSat-2 and NX are now nearing completion with the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) this month.

On September 22nd the training and development programme will reach completion and a new generation of highly skilled engineers will return to Nigeria to resume their work at the National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA) whilst they wait with anticipation for the launch of the two new satellites.

Just over a month ago, on July 30, 2009 Visit NASRDA website marked its 10 years of existence as a National Space Research & Development Agency, with mandate for the implementation of the Nigeria National Space Policies and Programmes

New DMC satellites deliver stunning images

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:24:23 +0000

It's a busy time for both SSTL and DMCii as the new DMC satellites UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, which were launched on the 29th July are commisioned and their imaging systems thoroughly tested and calibrated.

Just a week after launch, DMCii had already begun acquiring stunning satellite imagery from both satellites using the new 22m multi-spectral imaging payloads that they carry onboard. This would not have been possible without the new 22m multi-spectral imager that was developed by SSTL's Optical Payloads Group (OPG) in Sevenoaks, Kent. In a addition to the more obvious resolution increase it has over the previous 32m DMC imager, it includes a number of technological advances that improve the quality and calibration of the images DMCii receives.

First UK-DMC2 satellite image

This first image shows the states of Texas and Oklahoma, USA. The DMC satellites are specifically designed to image very large areas with rapid response and at regular intervals, as shown in this first multi-state image. The new satellites can image much larger areas in a single pass than the previous DMC satellites due to advances in onboard storage and high speed satellite downlinks to the Earth.

Don Benito, Spain. Deimos-1

This is one of the first 11 images taken by Deimos-1, see the Deimos-1 gallery provided by the satellite owner Deimos Space for more.

Continue reading "New DMC satellites deliver stunning images"

Nigerian satellites tested at RAL

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:57:00 +0000

Nigeria's NigeriaSat-2 and NX earth observation satellites are undergoing tests at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC’s) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The two satellites in the SSTD at RAL

NigeriaSat-2 and NX are being built for Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and will form part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) when they are launched next year.

NigeriaSat-2 was designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), and is based on their latest SSTL-300 earth observation satellite platform will deliver a high-resolution (2.5 metre) imaging system onboard a highly agile platform.

NX, which is based on the SSTL-100 platform was built by Nigerian engineers as part of their training and development scheme at SSTL in Guildford, UK. It will provide 22-metre imaging, enhancing the capability that is currently provided by NigeriaSat-1, which was launched in 2003. These latest satellites will provide not only continuity to Nigeria’s current space capability, but significantly advance the country’s space assets.
Continue reading "Nigerian satellites tested at RAL"

Space technologists support local charity

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:15:13 +0000

Anne Milton MP, Mohammad Zubair and Matt Perkins

In the first quarter of the New Year, a SSTL satellite will be launched. This time around it carries more than just a payload, it will contribute to charity.

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited showed that their satellite technology is not only beneficial for longer-term natural disaster monitoring; it also benefits the local community. When the new Surrey built UKDMC-2 satellite joins a group of six SSTL satellites in March in order to monitor and record natural disasters such as tsunamis, earth quakes, volcanic activity and flooding, it will also be carrying a message of benevolence.

Whilst building the spacecraft that is worth more than £5million, Dr Matt Perkins, Chief Executive of SSTL, came up with the idea of running a competition which would benefit a local charity. The winner of the competition would have the once in a lifetime opportunity to have their name or company logo printed alongside the satellite.

Galaxy Cars, a mini-cab company from Woking, won the competition by donating £8000 to Phyllis Tuckwell, a dedicated Hospice in Farnham that provides care to more than 100 people every day. Phyllis Tuckwell will also have their name printed on the space capsule.

Dr Perkins explained that he wanted to help the local community as SSTL’s work has a certain reach, which could be capitalised to promote charitable projects:

I was touched by what I heard about Phyllis Tuckwell and so we took the opportunity to raise funds for them and put their name into space

Sarah Brocklebank, Chief Executive of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, said:

I was delighted with the contribution and the opportunity of having the charity name floating in orbit.

Mohammad Zubair, owner of Galaxy Cars, stated:

We think this is a great opportunity to put something back into the community.

The new satellite is the latest edition to SSTL’s space portfolio and will join a team of six devices that are already in orbit, one of which has been going more than five years (Alsat-1).

Alsat-1 still going strong

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:30:54 +0000

Alsat-1, the first SSTL satellite of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) and the catalyst of Algeria’s fledgling space programme, remains healthy and fully operational after its sixth year in orbit.

Alsat-1 image of Tunis

Now, having exceeded its original 5 year schedule, Alsat-1 is more than 12 months into extended mission. The satellite engineers say that this remarkable extension was mainly accomplished through careful battery management.

Alsat-1 was not only the first DMC satellite, but also the first spacecraft to carry a Line Scan Imager. As such, SSTL is particularly delighted about this recent achievement. Its tasks have included responding to forest fires in Algeria and contributing to worldwide disaster response under the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters.

The Earth-Observation (EO) satellite is still providing imagery to the Algerian CNTS team (Centre National des Techniques Spatiales of Algeria) on a regular basis, although at a reduced capacity in order to further extend the battery life.

Alsat-1 carries an optical imaging payload developed by SSTL to provide 32m ground resolution with an exceptionally wide swath width of over 640 km allowing it to image an unparalleled area in each pass. CNTS is distributing the data to other Algerian institutions, which are using it for pollution monitoring, cartography and petrology applications.

Small satellite constellations for remote sensing

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:12:06 +0000

Paul Stephens, DMCii Marketing Director has written an article for Earth Imaging Journal (EIJ) this month which discusses the application of small satellite constellations for remote sensing.

Paul discusses the application of cost effective small satellites in earth observation and the development of a commercial earth observation market by DMCii and privately funded satellites such as the RapidEye constellation.

If you're interested, why not take a look at the EIJ website

CHRIS celebrates 7th birthday onboard PROBA

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:28:04 +0000

CHRIS may in fact have had no choice but to remain onboard PROBA, but as a highly successful and popular satellite payload Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer has much to celebrate - not least a new addition to the family!

The scientific community is celebrating 7 years of high resolution hyperspectral satellite imagery from the multi-spectral payload imager. The instrument has been so successful that an advanced variant (CHRIS-2) is under development, offering new functionality for Earth observation missions in a wide range of applications in resource monitoring and mapping, environmental science and security.

CHRIS was developed by SSTL's Optical Payload Group (formerly Sira Space Group), and placed into orbit in October 2001 on the PROBA mission developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). The sophisticated optical earth imaging instrument recently passed its 7th year in orbit as the highest resolution civil hyperspectral instrument in space.

Data from CHRIS has been highly successful in development of new Earth observation applications, and is supporting 94 international Principal Investigators (PIs), acquiring images from over 240 sites in 43 countries for diverse scientific research.

Dr. Mike Cutter, SSTL Optical Payloads Group explained the importance and value of such instrumentation,

Hyperspectral instruments have been widely used on aircraft for mineral prospecting and resource management and the CHRIS instruments enable this capability to be used on a national and continental scale, which is critical both for efficient management of natural resources and for providing the information to determine the effects of climate change and mitigation measures.

Proba captures manmade islands located just off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Palm Jumeirah (left) is the smallest of three massive palm-shaped islands, and The World is a collection of 300 islets built in the shape of a world map. Image acquired on 5 November 2007 by ESA’s Proba’s CHRIS (Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) instrument.
Credit: SSTL through ESA.

SSTL’s subsidiary DMCii schedules and processes images captured by CHRIS for ESA. The data from the mission then used in a wide range of applications including land cover assessment, resource management, deforestation and forest management, precision farming, aerosol monitoring and water quality assessment. The mission also supports International Charter: Space and Major Disasters campaigns by providing high resolution optical imagery of disaster affected areas.

The CHRIS hyperspectral images have been in high demand over the past 7 years, and the PROBA / CHRIS mission has pioneered and validated techniques for future scientific and commercial imaging spectrometer missions. Another reason for the scientific demand is that images can be acquired at 5 different view angles for each site, on a single over pass, allowing both spectral and directional signatures to be captured.

The new, more advanced CHRIS-2 instrument expands upon this unique capability by including the short wave infra-red band (SWIR), which allows further valuable applications to be addressed including mineralogy, prospecting, crop health and pollution monitoring.

Hyperspectral imagers split the available light from a scene into a large range of channels, providing detailed information about the imagery content. Whereas the CHRIS instrument provided up to 62 channels in the visible band, the CHRIS-2 instrument extends this capability to over 200 bands, including the short-wave infra-red bands (SWIR). Placing such an instrument on a spacecraft provides global reach and supports national and international routine imaging campaigns efficiently.

SSTL will provide the CHRIS-2 instrument on future Earth observation missions like PROBA or as a stand-alone payload for integration with third party satellite platforms.

GMES becomes Kopernikus

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:56:36 +0000

The new name of the European GMES Programme (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) has been unveiled: Kopernikus. The European Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen announced the name today at the GMES 2008 Lille forum.

The decision was unveilled at the same time as SSTL's sister company DMCii announced new developments in satellite imaging constellation quality control. A new framework, which is being implemented by DMCii, holds great potential for quality control and consistency in multi-source imaging projects such as Kopernikus.

DMCii's Chief Scientist Dr Mackin commented:

“This has never been done before and its application holds great potential for projects where imaging is sourced from multiple providers and satellites. As a GMES contributor, DMCii has begun implementing this new quality control framework within the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to validate it for wider use.”

DMCii GMES contribution

The European Space Agency (ESA) has expressed interest in the techniques that Dr Mackin presented in his role as one of the UK’s representatives in the Working Group for Constellation Calibration on the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). The first dedicated GMES satellites, Sentinel 2 and Sentinel 3, will demonstrate (at least in part) the new framework as a quality control measure for GMES.

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is a unique cooperation between partners that own satellites and share their data. DMCii coordinates the constellation to provide high quality commercial imaging services and rapid disaster monitoring programmes. The DMC’s imaging capacity is set to grow to more than 10 million sq km per day by the end of 2008 with the addition of new satellites, UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, which share a 20metre 600km swath imaging capability. The UK-DMC2 satellite will also offer a direct downlink service to X-band groundstations.

Last year, DMCii imaged 38 European countries for GMES in the 6 months between April and October 2007 as a GMES contributing mission. DMCii delivered precisely positioned data in each national map projection. This was the first time that the whole of Europe had been successfully imaged at high resolution in a single year.

Kopernikus is the "second flagship"
Europe is presenting Kopernikus at the forum as the second flagship of the European Space Policy following Galileo, the first flagship. The GMES 2008 forum is organised in the framework of the European Union French Presidency.

Pre-operational GMES/Kopernikus services in the areas of ocean, land, atmosphere, risks, climate change and security are being presented at the forum to decision makers and users. All actors are stressing the need for long-term sustainability of this public programme, as well as the need to grant continuity of data and services for the users.

At Lille, the European Commission (EC) stressed ESA's role as coordinator of the Kopernikus Space Component with its development and procurement role for the Sentinel Satellite series and its role of coordinator for contributing missions by Member States and other relevant partners of Kopernikus, such as the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Over the last 30 years ESA has been developing Earth Observation satellites, notably all the European meteorological satellites in cooperation with EUMETSAT, but also the ERS-1, -2 and Envisat satellites, which are mostly oriented to perform measurements relevant for environmental and climate research.

Based on this long-lasting experience and on requirements derived from applications, ESA is already developing new missions called 'Sentinels'. The five Sentinel families under development will feature radar and multi-spectral imaging as well as ocean and atmospheric monitoring capacities. The industrial phase of the first three of the five satellites is already ongoing.

As the 15th century scientist Copernicus revolutionised the understanding of our universe, Kopernikus brings the Earth back to the 'centre' of our concerns and will help us care for a better and safer world.

RapidEye constellation launch successful

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:49:25 +0000

All five RapidEye satellites were successfully launched this morning by Dnepr from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

RapidEye launch (Phil Kinsey / SSTL)

Following this morning’s launch, the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle in slightly different orbits to allow constellation phasing and will eventually be positioned equally spaced within the same orbit about 19 minutes apart. SSTL will control the constellation throughout the two week Launch and Early Operation Phase (LEOP) in a coordinated effort between their mission control facilities in the UK and the ground station supplied to RapidEye in Brandenburg, Germany. A team of three SSTL operators and three support staff will work with the MDA and RapidEye teams in Brandenburg, with the UK team analysing data as it is received and on standby to react to any technical challenges.

Project manager Ben Stocker commented: “The simultaneous launch of five satellites is not without its challenges. Commissioning will be performed from both the RapidEye ground station in Brandenburg and the SSTL mission control centre in Guildford. The five satellites will gradually disperse from each other following separation from the launch vehicle, allowing three satellites to be tracked and operated from Brandenburg with the remainder under the control of the Guildford operators. This method of operation offers the most efficient route to achieving the maximum amount of contact time per satellite during the early days of commissioning following launch. As the satellites are gradually manoeuvred into position around the orbit during the commissioning phase, the Brandenburg ground station will assume full control over the constellation.”

Following separation from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft activate three GaAs solar panels, generating up to 105W in sunlight. The power system will then assume active control of the battery charge management system, enabling operators to initiate communication with the five RapidEye satellites via the S-band system. Within hours the team plan to upload programs to the on-board computers that will enable early operations and checkout to commence.

The attitude control system on each spacecraft will use magnetometers, magnetorquers, sun sensors and reaction wheels to achieve 3-axis stabilization, whilst using high accuracy attitude information from a star camera to finalise accurate nadir (towards Earth) pointing before proceeding with more advanced roll manoeuvres.

Following LEOP, the full functionality of the satellites, including the imaging payloads built by German company Jena-Optronik GmbH, will be tested by collecting imagery over a 10-week period. During this time MDA will demonstrate the performance of the constellation before RapidEye AG takes delivery of the system and commences commercial imaging operations.

RapidEye plans to operate the mission to deliver agricultural land information products and services such as crop monitoring and mapping, yield prediction and natural disaster assessment.

SSTL’s Chairman, Sir Martin Sweeting, commented: “SSTL long ago established the benefits of small satellite constellations and launched the Disaster Monitoring Constellation in 2002, paving the way for a new paradigm in remote sensing. The launch of RapidEye will fully realise the business potential of constellations.

The simultaneous build of five satellites is the largest mission so far in terms of maximising and managing production at SSTL’s Guildford facilities. Expert in-house engineering and project management teams worked closely with MDA, streamlining the design, build and test of all five satellite platforms.”

New imager will help climate modelling

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:46:00 +0000

SSTL has won a contract worth €1.6 million from Astrium GmbH, Germany to proceed with work on a new contract to develop and supply the Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EarthCARE Mission.

Earth Explorer Missions are part of the Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP). They are missions led by the European Space Agency to address primary research objectives. The EarthCARE Mission has been approved for implementation as the third Earth Explorer Core Mission. The mission will be implemented in collaboration with Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency who will provide one of the core Instruments. The EarthCARE mission has been specifically defined with the basic objective of improving the understanding of cloud-aerosol-radiation interactions so as to include them correctly and reliably in climate and numerical weather prediction models.

The EarthCARE mission aims to improve the understanding of the Earth's radiation balance and to minimize uncertainties in climate change prediction models by acquiring accurate vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols, as well as measurements of top of the atmosphere radiance. The Multi Spectral Imager produced by SSTL will provide information on the horizontal structures of clouds, such as cloud type and cover, and cloud optical and microphysical properties. The instrument's 150 km swath will be used to extend to three dimensions the validity of the aerosol, cloud and radiance measurements made by the active EarthCARE instruments which are all directed towards the satellite ground track.

This contract is for the first stage of the Phase B design study; the full Phase B is a 15 month programme. This will be followed by a Phase C/D leading to mission launch in 2013. SSTL is supported in the MSI programme by TNO from The Netherlands who are acting as subcontractors to SSTL.

DMCii ups Emergency on Call Officers

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:51:50 +0000

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation's (DMC) operating company, DMCii, has been training up additional members to support emergency operations. These new Emergency on Call Officers (ECO) will expand the existing team to support the world's earth observing satellite feet in the event of major natural disasters.

Following recent training event, DMCii now provides 3 Emergency on Call Officers to service the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters. When the Charter is activated for a Major International natural disaster, the ECO's use there expertise to select and task different types of satellite appropriate to the disaster. For example, so far In 2008 DMCii ECO staff responded to flooding in Vietnam, Bolivia, USA and the Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador.

Ecuador volcano eruption caught by DMC satellite NigeriaSat-1

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:31:48 +0000

DMC International Imaging was on regular 24/7 duty as the Emergency On-Call Officer (ECO) for the International Charter; Space & Major Disasters from 21st to 28th January 2008. Gary Crowley, DMCii Operations Manager, coordinated the scheduling of images from DMC satellites as well as Envisat, Radarsat, ALOS, SPOT-5, IRS (Pan & LISS-3), Ikonos and QuickBird, for the Charter response to two disaster activation calls.

DMC image of the erupting Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador, showing the long plume of ash blackening the area (vegetation is false red) Image; NigeriaSat-1 25th Jan 2008 © NASRDA

Last Tuesday (22nd January) DMCii monitored a volcanic eruption in Ecuador. The images below are by kind permission of NASRDA.

Just last Friday (25th January) the International Charter was activated to image flooding in Bolivia.

SSTL clock-up twin success in-orbit

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:00:34 +0000

Two high performance mircosatellites built by SSTL have entered their third year of in-orbit operations after delivering consistently outstanding results since their launch in October 2005.

Both satellites were designed and built by SSTL as Earth observation missions: Beijing-1 for China’s Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Ltd (BLMIT), and TopSat for British company QinetiQ on behalf of the UK Government.

TopSat

These two missions represented a significant development in capability and performance of small satellites, providing 2.5m resolution imagery onboard TopSat, and 4m for Beijing-1. The high performance cameras were designed and built in the UK by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and Sira Optronics respectively. Both satellites are built with highly agile attitude control systems that provide accurate pointing to enable several independent images to be targeted in rapid succession.

Beijing-1 was launched into the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), joining four other SSTL-built satellites for a multi-national consortium of owners. As well as contributing images to the DMC, the Chinese satellite is providing pollution and topography data to the Chinese government, much of which has been targeted at reducing pollutants in time for the 2008 Olympic Games to be hosted in the capital.

TopSat's primary mission objective was to demonstrate that a microsatellite could deliver responsive high-resolution imagery directly from a satellite to ground terminals within the same footprint. Having fulfilled its original objectives, the satellite is now available for commercial service under the TopSat Consortium: QinetiQ (who own the satellite), SSTL, RAL and Infoterra, all original partners in the mission.

Today, both satellites today share a common role in Low Earth Orbit, providing images for the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, which is currently lead by SSTL’s subsidiary DMCii Ltd on behalf of the British National Space Centre (BNSC).

Just two years on, SSTL is developing the next generation DMC satellite for launch in 2009. The SSTL 300 platform will give users access to ever more demanding applications, including 10-metre PAN and 4-metre multi-spectral imaging and a throughput of more than 100 images per day.

Sira now forms SSTL’s Optical Payload Group, a 30-man team based at the company’s site in Sevenoaks UK, developing cutting-edge optics systems for space.

The DMC provide a unique Earth Observation resource that enables repeat daily imaging of anywhere in the world. Satellite owners contribute images, agreeing to provide 5% of their capacity free for daily imaging of disaster areas, whilst the majority of their capacity is available to support their independent imaging programs. This makes DMC membership particularly attractive to developing nations wishing to extend their reach without the prohibitive cost associated with larger satellites and “going it alone”.

DMCii Ltd coordinates the distribution and processing of the satellite image data.