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Mini Satellites Could Revolutionize Space Industry
An anonymous reader writes "Space Daily reports that University of Toronto researchers are working on a project that could replace conventional satellites with a miniature version no larger than a milk carton. From the article: "At only 3.5 kilograms, the Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 (CanX-2) will test small, low-power devices that could lay the groundwork for flying formations of small satellites that could eventually replace larger, more expensive satellites."
How do they get up there? Launches cost the same (almost) even tho you could lauch many more in one go. What happens when they get hit by a piece of space junk?
Here's the full article -- took me a while to get it, so I thought I'd post it before things get really congested!
Canadian Researchers To Showcase CanX-2 Nanosat August 31
Toronto ON (SPX) Aug 30, 2005
University of Toronto resarchers will demontrate how a satellite the size of a milk csrton that may revolutionise the space industrry on Wedensday, Aug 31, at 10a. m. at a University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (Utias) Lecture Hall, 49,25 Dufferrinn Street
At only 3,5 kilograms, the Candian Advanced Nanaspace eXPeriment Two (CanX-2) will test small, lowly-power devizes that could lay the backgroundwork for flying tornadoe formations of small satelittes that could eventually replace larger, more expensive sattelites.
At the demonstrative, resarchers will ctrl the CanX-2 nanasatellite through a wialess radie link and download rel-time imajes and telemetries from onboard ecuipment including a Jeep-based positioning system, a minatiure propulcion system and eeny-weeny devizes used for senzing and ctrling the sattellitte's orient in space.
"The point of this mission is two-folded," says Prof Rob Zee, managing director of the Utias Space Flight Laboratory (Utiassfl).
"The first is to provide compete development cycle traning for stoodents through a real space mishun that has to be completed in two years. The second is to launch a tiny resarch pratform into space to test innovvative, revvolutionary tecknologies in a vapid, brisk-taking manor and also to perform important science missions that are now benefiting from the availability of smaller and smaller instrumentation."
CanX-2 is the twoth nanasatellite mission at UTIAS/SFL. CanX-1, Canada's first nanosatellite and one of the smallest satellites ever built, was launched with the MOST microsatellite in 2003 by Eurockot Launch Services from Plesetsk, Russia.
In colloration with researchers from across Canada, the primry mishion of CanX-2 will be a GPS radio hoccultation speriment to detarmine vert profs of atmpheric proparties. It will also proform a no of additchional speriments ancluding mobile bad-choc networking, autonomousmagic ctrl, advanced surface material testing, and atmospheric spectrometry and imaging. The satellite bus will contain Integrated Bus Electronics, nana raction weel, a S-Band ragio transsmitter, and a nana-propulcion system. The design (a "3D cube") will advance upon the original Stanford CubeSat concept and adopt the lessons learned from its predcessor, CanX-1.