Session
Technical Session VIII: University Programs
Abstract
The Recent efforts to provide low cost access to space for education and technology demonstration have led to the concept of the pico-satellite – a satellite of the order of 1 kg in mass. Students at the Surrey Space Centre, are developing such a satellite – PalmSat – which has a number of potential scientific applications when launched in a swarm, or alongside a micro-satellite “mother-craft”. PalmSat builds upon the success of Surrey’s 6.5 kg SNAP-1 nano-satellite, launched in 2000, and yet takes the concept of spacecraft miniaturization a step further, from a modular commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology based spacecraft formed of “Eurocard” (165 mm x 120 mm) sized payload and bus-system modules, to one based on “credit-card” (90 mm x 55 mm) sized modules. As with SNAP-1, PalmSat will carry miniature propulsion and attitude control systems. Its first mission is aimed at demonstrating spacecraft rendezvous and remote-inspection, using CMOS camera technology. However, other miniature payloads are under development, including ionising particle detectors, magneto-resistive magnetometers, GPS receivers, thermal-infra-red micro-bolometer imagers, near ultra-violet radiometers and multi-spectral imagers, which enable PalmSat-class spacecraft to carry out scientific investigations in a costeffective manner. This paper describes these developments and the missions they can support.
Presentation Slides
Science Mission Scenarios using “Palmsat” Picosatellite Technologies
The Recent efforts to provide low cost access to space for education and technology demonstration have led to the concept of the pico-satellite – a satellite of the order of 1 kg in mass. Students at the Surrey Space Centre, are developing such a satellite – PalmSat – which has a number of potential scientific applications when launched in a swarm, or alongside a micro-satellite “mother-craft”. PalmSat builds upon the success of Surrey’s 6.5 kg SNAP-1 nano-satellite, launched in 2000, and yet takes the concept of spacecraft miniaturization a step further, from a modular commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology based spacecraft formed of “Eurocard” (165 mm x 120 mm) sized payload and bus-system modules, to one based on “credit-card” (90 mm x 55 mm) sized modules. As with SNAP-1, PalmSat will carry miniature propulsion and attitude control systems. Its first mission is aimed at demonstrating spacecraft rendezvous and remote-inspection, using CMOS camera technology. However, other miniature payloads are under development, including ionising particle detectors, magneto-resistive magnetometers, GPS receivers, thermal-infra-red micro-bolometer imagers, near ultra-violet radiometers and multi-spectral imagers, which enable PalmSat-class spacecraft to carry out scientific investigations in a costeffective manner. This paper describes these developments and the missions they can support.
