Donald Bédard (Defence R&D Canada Ottawa), Stefan Thorsteinson (Royal Military College of Canada), William Harvey (Canadian Space Agency), Siamak Tafazoli (Canadian Space Agency), Michel Fortin (Canadian Space Agency), Jaymie Matthews (University of British Columbia), Rainer Kuschnig (University of British Columbia), Jason Rowe
(University of British Columbia)
Keywords: Satellite Metrics
Abstract:
The Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) is a joint project between Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The NEOSSat project will develop a multi-mission micro-satellite bus that is expected to satisfy two concurrent missions: detection and tracking near-Earth asteroids (Near Earth Space Surveillance: NESS) and obtaining metric information on deep-space satellites (High Earth Orbit Surveillance System: HEOSS). The former will use NEOSSats 15 cm diameter space telescope to discover and determine the orbits of inner Earth orbit (IEO) near-earth objects (NEOs) that cannot be easily observed from the ground. For its part, the HEOSS mission will demonstrate that a micro-satellite can be employed to produce surveillance of space (SofS) metric data of artificial earth-orbiting objects having orbital altitudes between 15,000 and 40,000 km having sufficient quality to be accepted by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.
As a risk reduction effort for the NEOSSat project, a joint satellite tracking experiment was conducted by DRDC, CSA, the University of British Columbia and Dynacon using the MOST (Microvariability Oscillations of STars) microsatellite. MOST conducts precision photometric observations of bright stars and does not usually image starfields, but in October 2005, MOST returned Canadas first space based satellite tracking observations of two GPS spacecraft. Good quality metric tracking data were obtained despite the fact MOST was not designed to image, let alone attempt satellite tracking. The observations also provided an estimate of the targeted satellite brightness and the results were consistent with ground based V-band observations. These results demonstrate the soundness of the NEOSSat concept and the feasibility of the HEOSS mission.
The nature of both science missions will require the NEOSSat sensor to be pointed to a different position in the sky on average every five minutes, with a goal of every three minutes, for an average of 288 images for every 24 hours of operation. To ensure both science teams can employ the NEOSSat spacecraft to its full potential, the Mission Planning System (MPS) will automate the scheduling of both the HEOSS and NESS observation tasks. In another risk reduction effort for the NEOSSat project, a prototype of the MPS software has been developed to help in the definition of the system requirements as well as to identify and reduce the risks associated with the development of this software system.
The paper will first provide an update on the status and schedule of the NEOSSat project. Then, we will present the results achieved (metrics and photometry) from the two tracked GPS spacecraft as well as the lessons learned that are being applied during the development of the joint DRDC and CSA NEOSSat micro-satellite. Finally, results obtained from the MPS prototype development will be presented with a special emphasis on the final system to be designed including a description of the functions judged to be critical based upon the risk reduction activity.
Date of Conference: September 10-14, 2006
Track: Satellite Metrics