...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Copernical Team

Copernical Team

Thursday, 23 May 2013 05:15

Sputnix Ltd

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Sputnix Ltd is a Russian company with activity in the field of small spacecraft Attitude Control and Determination Systems (ACDS).

Sputnix Ltd proposes design, development and test for ACDS systems. Another important activity of Sputnix is to design and manufacture a small spacecraft platform called TabletSat – a 10-12 kg SC platform for implementation of technological experiments in space.

It is a subsidiary company of the SCANEX Research and Development Center (ScanEx – the leading Russian company on the remote sensing market, specializing in receiving of Earth observation images from space, its thematic processing and distribution).

Sputnix Ltd's activity was initiated by the ScanEx Satellite Technology Division. This division developed a three-axes stabilization Attitude Control and Determination System (ACDS) for a small satellite Chibis-M. The Chibis-M spacecraft was successfully launched into orbit on 25 January 2012. Sputnix Ltd was established in 2011.

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Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation is a spacecraft technology and robotics company located in New York, USA.

Honeybee Robotics has particular expertise in developing and operating small mechanical tools used on Mars missions. Some of the robotic devices it has developed and successfully demonstrated on Mars include:

  • The Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) instruments used on both Mars Exploration Rovers.
  • The Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD), sometimes called the "Phoenix Scoop", a soil scoop and a precision ice-sampling tool successfully demonstrated on the 2008 Mars Phoenix Lander mission,
  • The Sample Manipulation System and Dust Removal Tool used on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which landed in August 2012.
  • In addition, they are developing tools to be used to live and work on the moon as part of NASA's Constellation program.

Honeybee Robotics delivers flight-qualified products, from specialized mechanical components to precision positioning and deployment systems. It also offesr a range of engineering services, from specification development to design, build, test, and integration of a final product. 

Honeybee Robotics was established in 1983.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 09:36

Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah Univ.

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The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) is a not-for-profit unit of the Utah State University Research Foundation.

SDL's mission is to solve technical challenges faced by the military, science community, and industry through:

  • Serving MDA and the DoD as the University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) for electro-optical sensor systems research and development.
  • Designing and delivering electro-optical and space environment sensors and subsystems for over 400 rocket-borne and space-based payloads.
  • Pioneering efficient and effective calibration and characterization techniques and facilities.
  • Innovating CubeSat busses and small-scale components that provide large-scale benefits to the customer.
  • Enabling significant advances in data compression, processing, and exploitation.
  • Developing real-time reconnaissance data visualization hardware and software for operational military applications.
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 09:21

NRL Center for Space Technology

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NRL is the corporate research laboratory for the Navy and Marine Corps and conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology and advanced development. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for over 85 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world.

Within NRL, the Naval Center for Space Technology has the mission to preserve and enhance a strong space technology base and provide expert assistance in the development and acquisition of space systems for naval missions, activities of the Naval Center for Space Technology extend from basic and applied research through advanced development in all areas of Navy space program interest. These activities include developing spacecraft, systems using these spacecraft, and ground command and control stations.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 04:56

MUOS satellites

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The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is an array of geosynchronous satellites being developed for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to provide global satellite communications (SATCOM) narrowband (64 kbit/s and below) connectivity for communications use by the United States and allies.

The MUOS System is an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) (300 MHz to 3 GHz frequency range) SATCOM system, primarily serving the DoD. The MUOS will replace the legacy UHF Follow-On (UFO) system, before that system reaches its end of life, to provide users with new capabilities and enhanced mobility, access, capacity, and quality of service. Intended primarily for mobile users (e.g. aerial and maritime platforms, ground vehicles, and dismounted soldiers), MUOS will extend users' voice, data, and video communications beyond their lines-of-sight.
The MUOS operates as a global cellular service provider to support the war fighter with modern cell phone-like capabilities, such as multimedia. It converts a commercial third generation (3G) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) cellular phone system to a military UHF SATCOM radio system using geosynchronous satellites in place of cell towers.

Friday, 17 May 2013 13:39

O3b (constellation)

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The O3b Satellite Constellation is a satellite constellation designed for telecommunications and data backhaul from remote locations.

This new constellation is scheduled for deployment in 2013 and will initially be made up of 8 satellites with plans to extend this to 16. 

The constellation is owned and operated by O3b Networks, Ltd.

Friday, 17 May 2013 13:20

O3b Networks

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O3b Networks, Ltd. is a satellite operator focused on delivering a worldwide broadband network.

O3b Networks delivers broadband connectivity everywhere on earth within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator. The vast coverage area includes emerging and insufficiently connected markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, with a collective population of over 3 billion people.

For this aim, O3b is building a medium Earth orbit satellite constellation, the O3B constellation. The network will combine the ubiquitous reach of satellite with the speed of fiber to deliver satellite Internet services and mobile backhaul services to emerging markets. By the first half of 2013 O3b plans to launch a constellation of 8 satellites into orbit to provide low latency Internet services to billions of users in remote areas of the world.

The name "O3b" stands for "[The] Other 3 Billion", referring to the population of the world where broadband Internet is not available without help. 

 

 

Wednesday, 15 May 2013 18:47

ASTRON

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ASTRON is the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.

ASTRON's programme has three principal elements:

  • The operation of front line observing facilities, including especially the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and LOFAR,
  • The pursuit of fundamental astronomical research using ASTRON facilities, together with a broad range of other telescopes around the world and space-borne instruments (e.g. Sptizer, HST etc.)
  • A strong technology development programme, encompassing both innovative instrumentation for existing telescopes and the new technologies needed for future facilities.

In addition, ASTRON is active in the international science policy arena and is one of the leaders in the international SKA project. The Square Kilometre Array will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope with a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. The SKA will be built in Southern Africa and in Australia. It is a global enterprise bringing together 11 countries from the 5 continents.

 

ASTRON is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Wednesday, 15 May 2013 13:51

SKA project

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The Square Kilometre Array (SKA project) is a multi-purpose radio telescope that will play a major role in answering key questions in modern astrophysics and cosmology.

It will be one of a small number of cornerstone observatories around the world that will provide astrophysicists and cosmologists with a transformational view of the Universe. It will allow investigating galaxy evolution, cosmology and dark energy.

The Square Kilometre Array will provide a million square metres of collecting area. This huge increase in scale demands a revolutionary break from traditional radio telescope design.

The Square Kilometre Array will be the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.

Thousands of linked radio wave receptors will be located in Australia and in Southern Africa. Combining the signals from the antennas in each region will create a telescope with a collecting area equivalent to a dish with an area of about one square kilometre.

The SKA will address fundamental unanswered questions about our Universe including how the first stars and galaxies formed after the Big Bang, how galaxies have evolved since then, the role of magnetism in the cosmos, the nature of gravity, and the search for life beyond Earth.

The Square Kilometre Array is a global science and engineering project led by the SKA Organisation, a not-for-profit company with its headquarters at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, UK.

An array of dish receptors will extend into eight African countries from a central core region in the Karoo desert of South Africa. A further array of mid frequency aperture arrays will also be built in the Karoo. A smaller array of dish receptors and an array of low frequency aperture arrays will be located in the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.

  • The SKA will be so sensitive that it will be able to detect an airport radar on a planet 50 light years away.
  • The SKA central computer will have the processing power of about one hundred million PCs.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 13:37

SKA Organisation

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The SKA Organisation is the legal entity created to design, develop and operate the the Square Kilometre Array (SKA project).

Since 2008, the global radio astronomy community has been engaged in the development of the SKA as a major part of the 'Preparatory' phase of the project. The Preparatory phase ended in December 2011 and, following a number of major changes, the international SKA project has now progressed to the 'Pre-Construction' phase (2012-15) with the establishment of a new legal entity, the SKA Organisation, on 14 December 2011. The SKA Organisation will be based in the Alan Turing Building, The University of Manchester until October 2012, at which time it will move to a purpose-built building at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, UK.

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