About The Mission

Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat)

Science Objectives

NEOSSat will systematically discover, track and determine orbits of near-Earth asteroids and comets, focusing on those in near-Sun orbits.

NEOSSat will offer marked advantages in searching for near-Earth asteroids and comets from space compared to ground-based telescopes. The ability to search the ecliptic plane at closer elongations to the Sun, to use parallax to discriminate NEAs from those of the Main Belt through distance determinations, and being able to observe continuously, are the most significant advantages of a space platform.

Asteroids and comets are objects of considerable interest: i) as primitive objects dating from the origin of the Solar System which contain an unrivalled record of Solar System formation; ii) as a fraction of the small body population in Earth-crossing orbits constitutes a hazard to Earth; iii) as accessible targets for space exploration; iv) as a close-to-earth fraction of the population may constitute an extraterrestrial wealth of resources

Mission Overview

  • To launch early 2010 and to operate for at least 1 year (Launcher is TBD)
  • Low Earth orbit (approx. 650 km), dawn/dusk sun synchronous orbit
  • To detect asteroids and monitor high Earth orbit objects
  • Sky pointing instrument to demonstrate high pointing stability for long exposure images, following fast slewing of the microsatellite
  • To perform deep field imaging (down to 20 visual magnitude) in presence of stray light in low solar elongations
  • To build on Canadian Space Agency's microsatellite program

 

Observation

  • Observe at solar elongation from 45 to 55 degrees (limited by stray light & zodiacal background as both increase with decreasing solar elongation)
  • Elevation 40S to 40N of the ecliptic
  • Search ecliptic east region from east side of Earth and ecliptic west region from west side of Earth
  • Hundreds of images per day will be downloaded and analyzed by University of Calgary's dedicated NEOSSat data center

 

The Spacecraft

  • Microsatellite platform
  • Mass about 75 Kg, available power approximately 35 Watts, dimensions 1 x 0.8 x 0.4 m
  • Pointing stability of 0.5 arcsec in pitch and yaw for extended periods
  • Reaction wheels, no propulsion
  • Sensors: sun sensor, star tracker, magnetometers, solar cells

 

The Science Payload

  • Customized 15 cm aperture F/6 Maksutov telescope
  • Filed of view is 0.85 deg
  • CCD array 1k x 1k pixels, sensitivity range 310 to 1100 nm
  • Limiting magnitude: approximately 20 v.mag with 100 sec exposure
  • Pixel scale: 3 arcsec/pixel
  • High performance external baffle

 

Mission Management

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) together with Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC) are building this micro-satellite with a 15 cm telescope dedicated to near space surveillance. The project is managed by the CSA/DRDC Joint Program Office. The microsatellite bus and instrument are based on the previous successful CSA "MOST" micro-satellite, operating since 2003. As an equal partner on NEOSSat, DRDC will demonstrate the capability of an inexpensive space platform to detect high Earth-orbiting satellites and debris. NEOSSat is scheduled for launch in early 2010. Operations of the spacecraft will be at the CSA Satellite Operations Center, with science operations at the PI's home institutions.