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UK’s
TechDemoSat-1 to launch Q3 2013
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL)
has signed an agreement with Glavkosmos /
NPO Lavotchkin for the launch of the UK
technology demonstration mission,
TechDemoSat-1, by the Soyuz launch vehicle
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in
Q3 this year.
Part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board
and South East England Development Board
(SEEDA), TechDemoSat-1 is a collaborative
project to bolster the UK’s thriving space
industry by providing a low-cost opportunity
for innovative commercial and research
payloads under development in the UK to gain
flight heritage.
Upon successful completion of the launch and
early operations (LEOP) campaign, mission
operations will be handed over to the new
Satellite Applications Catapult Centre
Harwell, Oxfordshire. It will be the first
UK satellite to be operated from this new
facility, which is currently part of the
International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC)
to merge with the Catapult in April of this
year.
Tim Just, Head of Space at the Technology
Strategy Board, said “TechDemoSat-1 is the
first in-orbit satellite project directly
funded by the Technology Strategy Board.
This hugely exciting and anticipated
development will provide true space flight
heritage to a number of new ideas and
companies. Once in orbit TechDemoSat-1 will
be able to test several new satellite based
products and services from UK businesses,
breaking one of
the key barriers to innovation in the space
sector by reducing risk in demonstrating new
space-based solutions and technologies.”
TechDemoSat-1 is based on the SSTL-150
heritage satellite platform but has been
modified to carry its cargo of eight
experimental payloads, and also test some
new SSTL subsystem designs. The payloads
onboard the satellite include:
- SSTL’s Sea State Payload (SSP) that will
demonstrate how GPS signals reflected off
the ocean’s surface can be used to determine
ocean roughness and help maritime shipping
plan more efficient routes.
- MuREM, a miniature radiation environment
and effects monitor, supplied by the Surrey
Space Centre.
- The Charged Particle Spectrometer (ChaPS),
a radiation detector that can perform
simultaneous electron-ion detection,
developed by the Mullard Space Science
Laboratory (MSSL),
- The Highly Miniaturised Radiation Monitor
(HMRM) from Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory and Imperial College..
- The Langton Ultimate Cosmic ray Intensity
Detector (LUCID), a detector that can
characterise the energy, type, intensity and
directionality of high energy particles,
developed by the Langton Star Centre, part
of a sixth form college, and is an element
of a broader outreach activity supported by
the industrial partners.
- A Compact Modular Sounder (CMS) system, an
infrared remote sensing radiometer unit,
provided by Oxford University’s Planetary
Group and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory..
- SSBV’s CubeSAT ACS payload, which will
provide 3-axes attitude determination and
control.
- The Cranfield de-orbit sail designed by
Cranfield University, will be the last
payload to be operated on TechDemoSat-1 and
will move the satellite to burn up quickly
in the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its
life.
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