Asian Surveying & Mapping
Breaking News
Launch of Australia’s 1st orbital rocket, Gilmour Space’s Eris-1, delayed again
Update for 6:15 p.m. ET on July 1: Gilmour Space...
SAASST, UAE Space Agency strengthen scientific partnership
SHARJAH- Prof. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Director of the...
Shubhanshu Shukla to speak to students and ISRO scientists this Friday
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will interact with school students...
ISRO hands over 10 advanced technologies to Indian firms in major push for space commercialisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has transferred ten...
DIGIPIN Launched: India Embraces Geospatial Precision in Digital Addressing
IIT Hyderabad (IITH), in partnership with the Department of...
HAL to build, market Isro’s SSLV in landmark deal
New Delhi, Jun 20: In a historic move for...
Taiwan developing space capabilities for all-weather imaging
TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan is advancing its space...
Honda hails successful test of reusable rocket as it looks to get into the space business
Tokyo — Japan's second-biggest carmaker, Honda, has successfully tested...
China’s space program provides larger platform for broader international cooperation
BEIJING -- Experts from China's manned space program said...
India To Launch $1.5 Billion Joint Earth Mission With NASA In July
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian...

July 18th, 2017
Norway Successfully Launches Microsatellites Built by Toronto’s Space Flight Laboratory

The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced today the successful launch of two Norwegian microsatellites developed and built by SFL for the Norwegian Space Centre with support from the Norwegian Coastal Authority, Space Norway, and the European Space Agency. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the satellites into orbit launched from Baikonur at 06:36:49 UTC Friday 14 July 2017. Shortly after launch both satellites were contacted from ground stations in Svalbard and Vardo, Norway. Both satellites are healthy based on initial telemetry, and commissioning is underway.

The first satellite, dubbed NORsat-1 carries a state-of-the-art Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver to acquire messages from maritime vessels, a set of Langmuir probes to study space plasma characteristics, and a Compact Lightweight Absolute Radiometer (CLARA) to measure total solar irradiation and variations over time. The payloads were provided by Kongsberg Seatex, the University of Oslo and the Physikalisch-Meterologisches Observatorium Davos World Radiation Center.

The satellite is approximately 15 kilograms with main body dimensions of 20x30x40cm. NORsat-1 utilizes SFL’s Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation (NEMO) platform, and will serve the Norwegian Coastal Authority in monitoring maritime traffic while also performing ground breaking science.

The second satellite, NORsat-2 also carries an AIS receiver, but in addition has a VHF Data Exchange (VDE) payload that will enable higher bandwidth two-way communication with ships. Both payloads were provided by Kongsberg Seatex. NORsat-2 will be the first satellite to provide VDE services to Norway. Adding VDE enables increased messaging capacity, better reliability of message delivery, and increased range of ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication beyond direct line of sight.

SFL’s NEMO platform was used for NORsat-2, and the satellite was integrated in Toronto along with NORsat-1. The relatively large deployable Yagi antenna for the VDE payload was developed by SFL in collaboration with the University of Toronto’s Electromagnetics Group.

About Space Flight Laboratory (SFL)

SFL builds big performance into smaller, lower cost satellites. Small satellites built by SFL consistently push the performance envelope and disrupt the traditional cost paradigm. Satellites are built with advanced power systems, stringent attitude control and high-volume data capacity that are striking relative to the budget. SFL arranges launches globally and maintains a mission control center accessing ground stations worldwide. The pioneering and barrier breaking work of SFL is a key enabler to tomorrow’s cost aggressive satellite constellations. (www.utias-sfl.net)