Session
Session 1: The Year in Review
COinS
Aug 7th, 12:00 AM
NorSat-1: Enabling High Performance and Multipurpose Microsatellite Missions
Comments
The NorSat-1 mission demonstrates a low-cost collaborative approach to science in space through the innovative integration of multiple payloads within a small microsatellite platform. Successfully launched on 14 July 2017 into a 600 km polar orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the satellite carries three distinct payloads with different requirements. The mission’s scientific objectives are to investigate total solar irradiance and the effects of space weather on the upper ionosphere using payloads from Switzerland and Norway, respectively, while simultaneously advancing Norway’s operational capability for detection and management of maritime traffic. Developed by the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC), the design leverages SFL’s space-proven, cost-effective, and modular Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation (NEMO) microsatellite platform. Continuous on-orbit operation of payloads is enabled by 45 W power generation in sunlight. Sub-degree attitude control achieved with low-cost sensors and actuators has outperformed pointing requirements needed to satisfy scientific objectives. Downlink rates exceeding 1 Mbps, averaged over available contact time, have been sustained in any satellite orientation. At 15.6 kg, the successful on-orbit performance of NorSat-1 is a major leap forward in the evolution of microsatellite miniaturization, enabling high performance and multipurpose missions in smaller microsatellites.