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Minisatellites for the future...
The order they are shown here has no significance.
 OrbView-3
aka Warfighter- The third OSC built imaging satellite, for its subsidiary ORBIMAGE, was
originally to be launched in1998, and is now due for launch in April 2003,
following the customer OrbView coming out of Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection. The USAF
had signed a US$41.5m (1997) contract for technology and
three years of hyperspectral data. The Phillips lab
sponsored small satellite is due to carry out 5m
hyperspectral imaging satellite for battlefield surveillance and targeting.
More...
[Orbview-3 at ORBITAL]
- Sloshsat-FLEVO
- The Facility for Liquid Experimentation and Verification in Orbit (FLEVO) satellite is a
Dutch 125kg satellite to be launched on the Space Shuttle in 2000. The satellite is a
Russian-Dutch cooperation, with NLR as the prime contractor, and Fokker Space and Kvant
are developing the solar arrays. The satellite will be used to investigate the behaviour
and management of fluids in space, by monitoring water inside its tank. It will employ the
ESAJECT deployment mechanism from a NASA hitchhiker bridge, developed by Verhaert in
Belgium.
- SCD-3
- SCD-3 is a180kg minisatellite based on earlier satellites in this series. It is to be
launched into a {750-1100km} equatorial orbit on the Brazilian VLS in 1999, to provide
voice and data communication services at L and S-band. The gateway will use C-band, and
the system is a fore-runner of the proposed ECCO system. The spacecraft is to be 3-axis
stabilised, measures 700x700x1300mm, and offers 185W of power. More...
[SCD3 at INPE]
-
- SSR-1
- SSR-1 is the first satellite in a series of remote sensing satellite planned by the
Brazilian Space agency INPE. It is to be launched into equatorial orbit on the Brazilian
VLS in 1999, to provide regular daily observation in the equatorial region. The spacecraft
is expected to weigh 250kg. More...
[SSR at INPE]
-
- RapidEye (4
spacecraft)
- Four 150kg spacecraft in a US$100m constellation to serve cartography and
geo-information applications. The prime contractor for the spacecraft was
initially SSTL (UK), but in early 2002 it was mutually decided that SSTL
would only provide the satellite platform, and that MDA Canada would become
the mission prime. The platform was to be based on the 1999 UoSAT-12 spacecraft, but offer 6.5m resolution
multi-spectral imagery. The German government has decided in 2001 to
take a 50% stake in the project. The first phase of the project will start
by flying the camera as a payload on the ESA portion of the International
Space Station. Commercial service is expected to start in 2005.
More...
[RapidEye Germany][SSTL]
References
[1] Rapideye uses Surrey design, Spacedaily, 2 Feb 2000, (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-00d.html)
[2] AW&ST, 24 Jan 2000
[3] Germany Earmarks $3.5b for space, AW&ST, 28 May 2001
[4] Space News 18Feb2002, "Rapideye moves ahead with Earth Observation
project"
- SSR-2
- SSR-2 is the second satellite in a series of remote sensing satellite planned by the
Brazilian Space agency INPE. It is to be launched into equatorial orbit on the Brazilian
VLS in 2000, to provide regular daily observation in the equatorial region. The spacecraft
is expected to weigh 250kg. More...
[SSR at INPE]
- GFO-II
,2002
- The GeoSAT follow-on, follow on (or II), by the US Navy is to be launched on the EELV.
- ROCSAT-2
,2002
- A follow on from the ROCSAT-1 mission by the Taiwanese
space agency NSPO. The spacecraft will serve remote sensing and lightning mapping. ROCSAT-3 is aimed to be a constellation of small
satellites.
- [ROCSAT-2 at NSPO]
- GALEX, 2001
- A NASA mission to study Galaxy evolution, to be launched in September 2001 into a 690 km
orbit inclined 28.5 degrees, on a Pegasus launcher. The mission is being built by Orbital
under a US$16.5m contract (1998). The satellite will explore the origin and evolution of
galaxies, stars and heavy elements using an onboard ultraviolet telescope. The mission
duration will be approximately 28 months.
-
 Solstice/Save,
2002
- A US$26m mission procured by the University of Colorado from Orbital. The 237kg Solar
Stellar Intercomparison Experiment Atmospheric Variability Explorer (Solstice/Save)
satellite will be launched on a Pegasus-XL in 2002, and is part of NASA's Earth Observing
System (EOS) programme. It will perform solar-stellar irradiance measurements and in
particular its variability and effects on the climate.
 Techsat-21. 2004 - Three Techsat-21 demonstrator micro-satellites will be developed by ITN Energy Systems Inc. under a US$35m contract
(2000) awarded by AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate. The Techsat-21 proposal is a vison by
AFRL to use clusters or formations of collaborative small satellites to fulfil more
complex missions. Examples are distributed aperture remote sensing, geo-location, moving ground target. The
distributed mission is more tolerant to damage as well as reducing the total system
cost. It is anticipated that MEMS will be an enabling technology for the concept.
The spacecraft will be launched on the EELV ESPA ring in 2004.
More...
[Techsat-21 at AFRL]
References
[1] "Micromachines drive MicroSats", Spacer.com, 4 July 1998, (http://www.spacer.com/spacecast/news/microsat-98d.html)
[2] http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-00l.html)
[3] "TechSat 21 and Revolutionizing Space Missions Using
Microsatellites", M. Martin et all, 15th USU/AIAA, Logan, Utah, US, Aug
2001.
- TOPSAT,
2004
- A QinetiQ (formerly DERA, UK) led mission to develop a small mission for tactical remote sensing. The
platform will be supplied by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (UK), and the 2.5m ground
resolution instrument by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK). The Astrium owned National
Remote Sensing Centre will perform the ground processing of the data, and the mission is
sponsored by the British National Space Centre under the
MOSAIC programme, and the UK MOD.
The spacecraft is likely to measure 790x920x880mm and weigh 110kg.
References
[1] UK picks some winners for space funding, SpaceDaily, 25 July 2000, (http://www.spacer.com/news/microsat-00o.html)
To be manifested
- CATSAT
(STEDI-3), 1998
- CATSAT, a 109kg astrophysics and technology demonstration mini-satellite project.. The
Cooperative Astrophysics and Technology Satellite is a collaborative effort by three
universities; The University of New
Hampshire, Weber State University
in Ogden, Utah, and the University of Leicester in the
United Kingdom through the Universities (USRA). CATSat is selected as a backup mission for
the NASA Student Explorer Demonstration Initiative (STEDI) missions with TERRIERS and SNOE
as the primary missions. CATSAT will study the origin of gamma ray bursters. The NASA
budget is US$4.3m (1995), with the aim to have a launch ready spacecraft in 2 years.
- [CATSAT at UNH]
Picture (right) courtesy of UNH.
- MSRS/Diamant (formerly
David)
- A 180kg Earth Observation satellite project by OHB in Germany and El Op in Israel. The
spacecraft will be built by OHB. The instrument will be developed by El Op and will cover
12 spectral bands with 5m resolution and a 3-day revisit time. More...
- [Diamant at OHB]
[1] Press release Reuters, 3 June 1998
[2] AIAA/USU 1997, SSC97-III-3, "David - A Multi spectral high resolution
small satellite", A.Ginati et all.
- GEMINI,
(NiComm-1) 2003
- A Geostationary Minisatellite platform by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., partially
sponsored by the British National Space Centre under the MOSAIC programme. The spacecraft
is to carry up to four Ku-band communications transponders at a significantly lower cost
than current equivalent missions. This first mission based on the GEMINI platform will be
for the Nigerian government as a prime customer.
References
[1] UK picks some winners for space funding, SpaceDaily, 25 July 2000, (http://www.spacer.com/news/microsat-00o.html)
[2] Nigeria to launch satellite in 2002 (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news2/nn802711.html)
- SIGNAL 1-48
- Two satellites in the Russian SIGNAL communications constellation to be launched from a
Kosmos 3M or tsyclon launcher from Plesetsk. The spacecraft weigh 310kg, and will number
48 eventually in 4 orbital planes. More:...
[SSHP little LEO constellations]
- MIGHTYSAT-2.2
- Mightysat is a technology demonstration small satellite similar to Mightysat-2.1. In a
US$23.5m program, five satellite buses have been procured from Spectrum Astro by the US
Air Force Philips lab space experiments
directorate. The initial aim was that satellites in this series will be launched every
12-18 months. Mightysat-I is a microsatellite (1998).
More...
[MightySAT at Spectrum
Astro]
Picture courtesy of Spectrum Astro.
- SciSat
- SciSat is a proposed scientific minisatellite mission by the Canadian Space Agency under
its small satellite programme. The 260kg satellite is expected to be lofted on a
Pegasus-XL launcher into a 600km orbit in 2001. The satellite is to aid research in the
areas of Earth and Sun interaction and the ozone depletion in the Earth's atmosphere. The
spacecraft budget is US$20m and will be developed by Bristol Aerospace as prime contractor
under two contracts worth US$13m. More...
[SciSat at
Canadian Space Agency][Bristol Aerospace]
- KITSAT-4
- KITSAT-4 is a SAR mission proposed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology (KAIST), in collaboration with University College London UK, and Matra Marconi
Space systems, Portsmouth, UK.
-
- various, CNES
- The French Space agency C.N.E.S. is planning a series of mini-satellites for launch
after 1999. The planned missions are TPFO and VAGSAT (Oceanography), SAMBA and COROT
(Astronomy), IBIZA (Geo-magnetism), and IRSUTE (Earth Observation). [1] B.Belon &
Th.Lafon, Low cost approach for Mini Satellites, 45th IAA 1994, Oct 9-14 1994, Jerusalem,
Israel.
- Aries-1,2
- The 400-450kg Australian Resource Information and Environment Satellite (ARIES) is to
carry a 15km swath width, 30m resolution hyperspectral imager with 105 bands, and is
planned to be launched in 2001. It is sponsored by the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Auspace and the Australian Centre for Remote
Sensing (ACRES), as well as the Australian mining industry. It is expected to be placed in
a 500km orbit, and have a revisit time of about 1 week. It could potentially also be used
for agricultural planning, and would cost A$200m (1997). The satellite lifetime will be 5
years, at which time it is expected to be replaced by ARIES-2.
[1] AIAA/USU 1997, SSC97-III-2, "The Australian Resource
Information and Environment Satellite (ARIES) , phase A study", E.Roberts et all.
[1] "MITA: In-orbit resuts of the Italian small platform and the first
Earth observation mission HypSEO", P.Sabatini, R.Aceti, T.Lupi,
G.Annoni, F.Dalla Vedova, v.de Cosmo, F. Viola, 3rd Symposium of the
International Acedemy of Astronautics, Berlin, Germany, April 2001.
-
[2] "A small glance to Earth from
space", S.Zoffoli, M.Crisconio, C.Musso, G.F.Bignami, 3rd Symposium of
the International Acedemy of Astronautics, Berlin, Germany, April 2001.
- HypSEO
- A proposed small satellite mission under the italian space agency (ASI)
PMS small satellite programme. The spacecraft will carry Italian
hyperspectral payload on a Carlo Gavazzi MITA platform. Launch is
anticipated in 2005 or 2006.
[1] "MITA: In-orbit resuts of the Italian
small platform and the first Earth observation mission HypSEO",
P.Sabatini, R.Aceti, T.Lupi, G.Annoni, F.Dalla Vedova, v.de Cosmo, F. Viola,
3rd Symposium of the International Acedemy of Astronautics, Berlin, Germany,
April 2001.
-
[2] "A small glance to Earth from
space", S.Zoffoli, M.Crisconio, C.Musso, G.F.Bignami, 3rd Symposium of
the International Acedemy of Astronautics, Berlin, Germany, April 2001.
-
- EgyptSat-1
- A proposed small satellite mission for the Egyptian government procured in
October 2001 from the GKB (Southern) design bureau. The spacecraft will
weigh 100kg and is to be launched on DNEPR into a 668km sun-synchronous
orbit. The spacecraft will carry a high resolution multispectral imager and
store and forward communications payload. More...
[News articles in Russian: http://www.elvisti.com/2001/10/24/sci-tech.shtml]
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