The CSCA Canadian SmallSat Symposium

There's a lot of hype around decentralized tech right now, and it's hard to even know what tools are available, let alone how to use them efficiently within an operational system. In this talk we'll briefly cover the landscape of decentralized technologies to get a high-level view of what benefits they can bring. Then we'll look at a couple systems in greater detail, and consider the benefits and cost of using these new tools in system design by looking at a variety of use cases.

The smallsats (<500 kg mass satellites) market is going through significant expansion in terms of capabilities and demand. In the last couple of years, numerous companies have produced solutions, largely based around a constellation approach, to better deliver services and reach out to new users. The smallsat market has quickly expanded over the last five years and will experience a sustained expansion in the future. Over 6,200 smallsats are expected to be launched over the next 10 years, a substantial increase over the previous decade. This will correspond to $16.5 billion in manufacturing market value from 2017 to 2026, and $14.5 billion in launch services.

These solutions are supported by new ventures, entrepreneurs investing in space in this so-called new or adaptive space environment. The logic of lower-cost constellations is to provide global connectivity from one system (satcom) or high-frequency change detection (in Earth observation) or connecting devices and vehicles (Information) for the Internet of Things, Machine to Machine, and traffic monitoring (AIS or ADS-B). It is aided by the advancement of satellite system miniaturization permitted by new technologies and/or advances in related sectors, particularly in computational technology with smallsats now providing operational services that were previously only achievable through heavier satellites.

Ms. Jennifer Blasko - Swedish Space Corp., Commercial Ground Systems Increase Small Satellite Impact

Simon Molgat Laurin, UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), The NORSAT-2 Microsatellite: Demonstrating Advanced Maritime Communication with VDES 

SFL reflects on 20 years of breakthroughs in developing smaller satellites for demanding applications.  Current integration and cost trends in the small satellite industry are discussed, while SFL looks ahead to what the future may hold for small satellite manufacturers and service providers.

Satellite Squared's mission is to build towards an economically sustainable, in-space infrastructure, through the conception and operation of innovative systems for the purposes of space exploration, logistics, and commerce. We are developing the technology to improve solar panel performance in orbit, with both short and mid-term applications on the way.

Power Boosting
Our short term application, Solar Bloom, is a low mass, low volume deployable solar concentrator which will increase the power available to a satellite by up to 50%. It is installed onto the outside of a satellite as a subsystem, and deployed once released from its launch vehicle.

The innovation of this new technology is to increase the energy produced by a solar panel for less mass, area and cost than by the addition of another solar panel.

This hardware will be compatible with new satellites, probes, and space stations of all nationalities, sizes and orbits that rely on solar power.

Design and Operational Philosophy
The Solar Bloom is a low cost concept with a mass advantage over rigid solar panels, while creating additional useful surface area. As such, it is significantly cheaper than a rigid solar panel.

The Solar Bloom shares conceptual similarities with the previous generation of concentrator initiatives, while avoiding the same pitfalls. Lessons learned, more advanced deployment technologies, 3D printing and cubesats permit us to mitigate the risks of power concentration while focusing on the benefits.

Contactless Servicing
Our mid-term application, 2Sat is a satellite concept that would provide a contactless power support service to boost the energy generated on a client satellite by 20%-30%.

The concept of the mission is to operate in the SSO and GEO orbital environments. The 2Sat will work with any satellite that uses solar panels regardless of age, make of mission.

A growing portion of the commercial “NewSpace” industry is the acquisition of Earth observation data from satellites built and operated by private companies. Satellite images offered by commercial companies have resolutions as much as an order of magnitude better than the highest-resolution publicly available government-owned counterparts. This jump unlocks resolutions previously only obtainable by government reconnaissance satellites. Thanks to these improvements, private companies have emerged as some of the top providers of key data for Earth observation. This talk will give an overview of the current players in the game and their offerings and capabilities.

Brad Cotten, Space Flight Laboratory, On-Orbit Results from the ADS-B and Drag Sail Experiments On-Board the CanX-7 Mission
This presentation will focus on two main topics, illustrated through on-orbit results. The first is space based ADS-B for tracking aircraft, which is an emerging application for small satellites. The second is space debris mitigation through the use of passive drag sails, a key technology for the sustainable use of low-Earth orbit.

Benoit Larouche, Space Flight Laboratory, DEFIANT: A SMALL MASS-PRODUCIBLE MICROSATELLITE PLATFORM FOR DEMANDING APPLICATIONS UNDER EXTREME COST AND SIZE CONSTRAINTS

Christopher Robson, University of Alberta, Simulating Aerodynamic Disturbances on CubeSats 

Robert Magner, UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory, Optimization-Based Approach for Target Tracking Attitude Trajectory Generation for DAUNTLESS Bus Missions

Olivier Daigle, Nüvü Caméras Inc., TRL-5 EMCCD Controller for Space Applications

Mr. Christopher Robson - University of Alberta ISSET
Test Apparatus for Precise Measurement of CubeSat COG and MOI
Ms. Callie Lissinna - University of Alberta ISSET
Transient Thermal Circuit Model of the University of Alberta Ex-Alta 1 CubeSat
Mr. Tyler Hrynyk - University of Alberta ISSET
University of Alberta Ex-Alta 1 Cube Satellite for the QB50 Mission

MDA is Canada’s largest space company. While MDA is best known for large missions like the RADARSAT series of satellites, including the upcoming launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), MDA, along with our affiliated companies within the Maxar Technologies family, is involved more and more in smallsat missions. This talk will introduce the audience to some of MDA’s activities in this exciting sector; past, present, and future.

Pooya Sekhavat, Microsat Systems Canada Inc (MSCI), A Novel Reaction Wheel Desaturation Method Using Satellite Residual Dipole

Stuart Eagleson, Magellan Aerospace, Single GPS Antenna Attitude Vector Pair – NEOSSat Recovery

Viqar Abbasi, Canadian Space Agency, Recovering NEOSSat following major attitude control system failures