Disaster Monitoring Constellation In-Orbit Commissioning Continues

MICROSAT BLITZ

example of an SSTL micro earth observation satellite

Guildford - Oct 21, 2003
Two weeks after an excellent launch and very precise orbit injection by a Russian Kosmos rocket on 27 September, the latest three DMC satellites (BILSAT-1, NigeriaSat-1 and UK-DMC) are progressing extremely well through their in-orbit commissioning. The three new satellites have joined the first DMC satellite, AlSAT-1, which was launched into a 686 km sun-synchronous low Earth orbit in November 2002, to provide a worldwide daily imaging capability.

The latest satellites are in excellent health and have already returned their first test images. Telemetry was received from each of the satellites within three hours of launch at each of their respective ground stations in Turkey, Nigeria and the UK. Since then all the spacecraft have been 3-axis stabilised nadir-pointing and the primary systems and imaging payloads have been successfully checked out.

Using their 32-metre GSD multispectral wide-swath Earth imaging cameras, the UK-DMC satellite has already imaged the Arctic, England and France, and NigeriaSat-1 has taken its first images of Nigeria and Monrovia (Liberia).

The Turkish, BILSAT-1, satellite has also returned good test images of Turkey using its 12-metre GSD panchromatic camera. Detailed commissioning of the satellites' systems and other payloads, alongside 'fine-tuning' of the camera settings, will continue over the next two weeks.

The Kosmos rocket performed exceptionally well and delivered the satellites into orbit with a precision about an order of magnitude better than the maximum allowable errors - placing the satellites into orbit with a semi-major axis accurate to within 700 metres and just 300 metres from that of AlSAT-1.

This precise orbit injection will enable SSTL and the DMC partners to conserve onboard fuel supplies, maximising the constellation's operational lifetime.

A technical meeting of the international DMC partners will take place at SSTL 4-5 November to discuss the implementation of the constellation mission planning and networking and to finalise the data archiving and catalogue system.

This will be followed by a full meeting of the DMC Consortium to be hosted by TUBITAK-BILTEN in Turkey 17-18 November to review progress and plans for formal DMC operations commencing in January 2004.

MICROSAT BLITZ

Surrey Launches Batch of Three DMC MicroEO Sats

Guildford - Sep 16, 2003
The world's first small satellite constellation dedicated to monitoring global disasters has been launched by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Three further satellites for Surrey's Disaster Monitoring Constellation were launched into low Earth orbit today, 27 September 2003, at 06:09 GMT onboard a Kosmos launcher from Plesetsk in northern Russia.

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