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NASA’s
deep space atomic clock is one of three projects to transform space
communications, deep space navigation and in-space propulsion
capabilities.
Image credit: NASA
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[Satellite TODAY 7-3-13] U.K.-based Surrey Satellite Technology is
no stranger to delivering small satellite missions, in fact, since the
company’s birth in 1981, it has already launched 41 of such spacecraft.
Until recently, Surrey hadn’t tapped into the U.S. market from its new
Colorado facility, but that’s about to change according to John Paffett,
CEO of Surrey Satellite Technology U.S. division (SST-US), a subsidy of the U.K. company.
Optimism and excitement resonate among company officials as upcoming
launches develop. "It’s the first of our U.S. missions to go through our
new facility in Colorado. It’s a great first step for the group," he
said during an exclusive telephone interview with SatelliteTODAY.com on July 1.
"One of the things we found was that there were a large number of
payloads that have been developed that didn’t have flight
opportunities," he said noting that SST-US can now fill that void with
its corporate headquarters and satellite manufacturing located at the
new facility providing full mission capabilities. "We were quite
surprised by the level of interest and demand," he added.
The process of coordinating satellite missions often presents
technicians and managers with significant challenges. But for officials
at SST-US, these tasks were not insurmountable, according to Paffet. By
understanding constraints and customer requirements, he said SSI-US was
not only able to overcome these obstacles, but also increase payload
capacity size. "We decided to come up in [capacity] size so we could
increase what we could offer to us customer base,” Paffett said. "Rather
than having a fixed solution we’ve tried to work with payload providers
to fit their payloads," he added.
One of the key offerings of the new U.S. headquarters includes customer
payload integration, something that has caught the attention of NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "It’s a low risk satellite platform, very
attractive price point, and from a company that has a demonstrated track
record for delivery of satellites," Paffett said.
NASA has selected SST-US for the flight of the Deep Space Atomic Clock
(DSAC) payload under the sponsorship of NASA's Space Technology Mission
Directorate (STMD). Under the agreement, SST-US will provide a hosted
payload flight opportunity for the NASA DSAC payload on its upcoming OTB
mission, which is scheduled for a 2015 launch. DSAC will fly on the
SST-US-owned-and-operated Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite, the first
spacecraft to be integrated at the new SST-US facility.
Allen Farrington, manager of the deep space atomic clock project at NASA’s JPL, agreed with Paffett during an exclusive interview with SatelliteTODAY.com
also on July 1. He said that the primary advantage of this type of
payload "is a cost savings over the purchase of a semi-custom
spacecraft," noting that NASA had considered several other competitors
of Surrey.
While declining to provide
specific names of competing companies, Farrington said that NASA looked
at "many companies, including traditional spacecraft vendors, commercial
hosting vendors, and small spacecraft vendors," he said. Ultimately,
Surrey came out as the winner in the deals for several reasons,
Farrington said, including that, "the mission opportunity Surrey offered
– the Orbital Testbed Mission – was the only mission that met our
specific orbital/spacecraft environment requirements on the schedule
that we had," he said.
Under the
terms of the agreement SST-US will provide a hosted payload flight
opportunity for the NASA DSAC payload on its upcoming OTB mission,
scheduled for launch during 2015. DSAC features a miniaturized,
ultra-precise mercury-ion atomic clock. In-orbit demonstration of the
precision timing and navigation capabilities of the DSAC instrument is a
key requirement for NASA’s pursuit of deep space exploration missions
which require higher-precision data collection and autonomous radio
navigation for time-critical events such as orbit insertion or landing.
Farrington said that NASA has very specialized requirements including
orbital altitude, spacecraft environments, and available spacecraft
resources.
"For example, we had to be below the GPS constellation at MEO
but above 500 km. The spacecraft had to have a particular pointing
error and be quiescent with no wheels, no significant torquer action or
thrusters for six days straight. We require about 80 W of OAP and 50 kg
of available mass," Farrington added.
The OTB satellite, owned and operated by SST-US, is currently in design
and manufacture stages. The spacecraft will qualify and demonstrate an
array of payload equipment and subsystem technologies, in addition to
the DSAC payload. SST-US will integrate the OTB satellite in its new
facility in Englewood, Colo.
While Farrington, said NASA’s JPL is "constantly considering various
payloads and mission opportunities depending on NASA’s needs and mission
requirements," SST-US will also take a similar approach to future
missions – for both the company and its customers.
source: http://www.satellitetoday.com
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