Dr Stuart Eves - RUSI Assuring Access to Space Conference

1. Innovations in Small Satellites
and On-Orbit Manufacturing

2. TripleSat Constellation

3. Credit: SSTL

4. Video from Low Earth Orbit
• Historically, providing video from space has been
tricky:-
– Having enough satellite or sensor agility to keep
a single location in view for the duration of a
short pass (5-10 mins) has been challenging
– Spatial resolution has been low
– The data rates generated by the camera have
posed issues for on-board storage, data
downlink, or both
– Availability of ground stations for real-time
control has been a problem
• But video from space is coming, enabled by
improved bus technologies

5. The Carbonite Programme
Carbonite ‘s current capability
• Low-cost, high-resolution rapid response
experimental EO mission
• Mass = 80kg
• Colour high definition video
• Direct delivery to users
• Designed and built in 7 months
• Carbonite-2 under construction
(1-metre resolution – post-processed to 0.5-metre)
Carbonite ‘s future iterations
• 0.5m to 1m resolution
• Full colour, stills and HD video
• 1400 images per day
• 450s video per day
• <50kg
• 3 months to launch

7. Low-Elevation Mode Imaging
Multiple Imagery Collection Modes
Highly Agile Single Scene Imaging Extended Strip Imaging
In-pass Stereo Mode Imaging
Area Mode Imaging
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Super-Resolution Mode Imaging
Strip 1
Strip 2
Strip 3
Strip 4
Manoeuvre
time
Manoeuvre
time
Manoeuvre
time
Line of Communication
Mode Imaging
Change Detection
Mode Imaging
In-theatre Control Mode Imaging
High satellite agility enables a range of responsive modes of operation

8. NovaSAR S-band radar mission
 SSTL Platform, 500kg satellite
 Airbus SAR S-band Payload
 Co-located AIS receiver
 400 km swath mode for maritime
 Up to 3-metre resolution
 Uses: Maritime surveillance,
deforestation, & flood monitoring
6m resolution, forest6m resolution, Pembroke docks

9. On Board Processing
• Advanced on-board processing
– To route communications traffic, and also
to process future surveillance satellite data,
will increase capacity, improve cueing, and
allow future systems to provide far greater
capabilities
– On-orbit configurability of sensors
– Software Defined Radios (e.g. AIS, ADS-B,
M2M communications etc)
– Image processing
• Advanced ground processing
– Cloud processing, to permit the use of
lower cost spacecraft, optics and sensors
– Compensate for spacecraft imperfections

10. Urthecast
• Synergistic surveillance concept
• Eight pairs of satellites
• Each pair consists of one SAR
and one optical satellite
• SAR carries AIS and a cloud sensor
• Inter-satellite link allows SAR to cue
optical satellite to avoid clouds

11. Mothership Concept
• An experimental mission potentially including:-
• A primary satellite with a mass of approximately 150kg
• A secondary cube-sat satellite with a mass of approximately
5kg
• Both satellites would be equipped with an attitude control
capability and the larger with an orbital manoeuvring capability
• The satellites would have an intersatellite communication link

12. Space Wide Web
• Optical inter-satellite links
can potentially offer both
much higher capacity and
greater communications
security than RF systems
European Data
Relay Satellite
Optical ISL Concept
• Long range ISL systems
permit commanding and
data reception from LEO
spacecraft at any time

13. Improved Space Situation Awareness
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• Improvements to space situation awareness could include:-
– The tracking of smaller objects, (down to 1 cm in size)
– More frequent and more precise tracking in order to
maintain more accurate orbits
– Assessments of hostile satellite configuration,
operational status and current activity
– Warning of space weather events
• Tracking from orbit addresses several of these issues
• Launch detection from orbit is also a key capability

14. • A variety of technologies, including Mass drivers;
Adhesives; Harpoons; Lasers; Tethers; Nets;
Grapplers; Propulsion plumes; Slingsats; and De-
orbit sails have been suggested to remove large,
long-lived debris objects
• All these concepts are technically immature and
look like anti-satellite weapons in the wrong
hands
• It’s unclear how these concepts would be
financed, and the politics is hard too
Harpoon concept
Grappler
concept
Net concept
Mass driver concept
Adhesive concept
Slingsat concept
Propulsion plume concept
De-orbit sail concept
Tether concept
Debris Removal
Laser concept

15. Remove Debris Project
• SSTL is contributing to an ESA programme that
aims to test net and harpoon technology in orbit
• The remove debris mission will release two test
targets and then seek to re-capture them

16. Satellite Servicing Concept
• SSTL is currently working on a satellite servicing concept that is
designed to attach itself to the launch separation ring on the target
satellite
• Launched alongside a future GEO satellite, it could offer a variety of
different mission options

17. Assembly On Orbit
• Docking and rendezvous
technology will allow the assembly
of larger apertures on orbit
• Multiple linked mirror segments
could allow significantly improved
resolution
• These large apertures could be
used for both Earth observation and
astronomy

18. Space Debris As Fuel
• A team in Australia is developing a
thruster that works by ionising metals (and
carbon) and accelerating them
• Mass-drivers have also been suggested,
which can utilise almost any type of debris
• In such a scenario, space debris becomes
an on-orbit resource
• Space Traffic Control (STC) data on the
location of suitable pieces of debris
suddenly increases in value
Electric propulsion concept
Mass-driver concept

19. Thank You