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

Copernical Team

Copernical Team

Tuesday, 14 October 2014 12:36

NEE-01 Pegaso

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NEE-01 Pegaso is an Ecuadorian technology demonstration satellite, and Ecuador's first satellite launched to space.

Built by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA), it is a nanosatellite of the single-unit CubeSat class. The spacecraft's instruments include a dual visible and infrared camera which allows the spacecraft to take pictures and transmit live video from space.

The satellite operated normally until 23 May 2013 wnen there was a collison with a debris cloud. After the incident, the satellite was found to be "spinning wildly over two of its axes" and unable to communicate with its ground station. While efforts were made to reestablish control of Pegaso, on 28 August 2013 the decision was made by EXA and the Ecuadorian government to declare the satellite as lost.

Thursday, 09 October 2014 07:18

Interorbital Systems

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Interorbital Systems Corporation (IOS) is an American aerospace company based in Mojave, California.

It was founded in 1996. Interorbital Systems is working on a line of launch vehicles aimed at winning the Google Lunar X Prize. The company was also a competitor for both the Ansari X-Prize  and America's Space Prize. 

Interorbital Systems' prototypes are all designed to be amphibious (capable of launch from land or sea). Although IOS currently tests its spacecraft at the Mojave Airport & Spaceport and conducts testbed launches from the Mojave Desert, it plans to develop and implement a method for launching directly from the water without a launch platform. 

Tuesday, 30 September 2014 14:54

EIAST

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The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), is a Dubai government entity that was established by law in 2006, as part of the United Arab Emirates' national initiative to promote scientific innovation, with the emphasis on space technology and promoting sustainable development.

EIAST was established in order to promote advanced research and technological innovation, more specifically satellite technology; to build a well established internationally competitive base for human skills development; to position Dubai and the United Arab Emirates as a hub for space technology development internationally; to optimize the potential of EIAST satellite programs, DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, through broadening their applications; and lastly to provide support to decision makers in all sectors through application of its specialist skills.

In order for EIAST to achieve its goal of using space technologies and applications effectively, the institution has pursued four programs:

  • research and development of outer space,
  • satellite manufacturing and system development,
  • Earth observation from satellite images,
  • and ground station services and support to other satellites.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014 15:24

Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV)

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The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is a European Space Agency (ESA) experimental re-entry vehicle intended to validate European reusable launchers which could be evaluated in the frame of the FLPP program.

The IXV development would be carried out under the leadership of the NGL Prime SpA company. It would inherit of the principles of previous studies such as CNES' Pre-X and ESA's AREV (Atmospheric Reentry Experimental Vehicle).

Wednesday, 24 September 2014 15:17

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)

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The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56° S to 60° N, to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth prior to the release of the ASTER GDEM in 2009.

SRTM consisted of a specially modified radar system that flew on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the 11-day STS-99 mission in February 2000, based on the older Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR), previously used on the Shuttle in 1994. To acquire topographic (elevation) data, the SRTM payload was outfitted with two radar antennas. One antenna was located in the Shuttle's payload bay, the other – a critical change from the SIR-C/X-SAR, allowing single-pass interferometry – on the end of a 60-meter (200-foot) mast that extended from the payload bay once the Shuttle was in space. The technique employed is known as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014 08:14

Final Frontier Design (FFD)

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Final Frontier Design (FFD) is a seed-stage startup company that builds and tests spacesuits.

The company's products both enable, and are enabled by, the more recent lower-cost access to space epitomized by NewSpace launch companies such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace.

Final Frontier Design was founded in 2010. It produces space suits and space suit gloves.

 

Tuesday, 16 September 2014 06:30

United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC)

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The United Rocket and Space Corporation is a Russian joint-stock corporation formed by the Russian government in 2013 to renationalize the Russian space sector.

The government intends to do so in such a way as to "preserve and enhance the Roscosmos space agency". The reorganization has continued into 2014.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014 06:23

Satellite Industry Association (SIA)

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The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) was formed in 1995 by several major US satellite companies as a forum to discuss issues and develop industry-wide positions on shared business, regulatory and policy interests.

SIA grew out of the Satellite Super Skyway Coalition, a voluntary alliance of major satellite players, galvanized into action in early 1993 when the U.S. Government began advancing the idea of a Global Information Infrastructure (GII). The success of the coalition in defining the role of satellites in the GII strengthened ties between major industry players and sowed the seeds for what today is the Satellite Industry Association.

Since that time, SIA has developed into a full service 501(c) (6) trade association representing the commercial satellite industry. SIA has established active working groups involved with a host of policy issues including: regulatory issues (satellite licensing, spectrum allocation and regulatory policy); government services, public safety, export control policy, and international trade issues. SIA is now a recognized focal point for the U.S. satellite industry in Washington, D.C., representing and advocating industry positions with key policy makers on Capitol Hill and with the White House, Federal Communication Commission and most Executive Branch departments and agencies.

Monday, 08 September 2014 14:51

Maxwell Technologies

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Maxwell Technologies is a developer and manufacturer headquartered in San Diego, California, USA.

The company focuses on developing and manufacturing energy storage and power delivery solution-related products for automotive, heavy transportation, renewable energy, backup power, wireless communications and industrial and consumer electronics applications as well as for radiation-hardened microelectronic components and systems for satellites and spacecraft.

 

Monday, 08 September 2014 14:40

Board Computer for Space

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The SCS750® single board computer for space is Maxwell's answer to the space industry's need for medium- to high-performance computing. The SCS750 combines the latest generation of IBM PowerPC® processor with large amounts of volatile and non-volatile storage and a variety of interfaces in an industry standard 6u cPCI form factor.

Any radiation upset (SEU) is transparently corrected. The user never has to worry about executing a bad instruction or accessing corrupt information. Software development is simplified by using the industry standard VxWorks operating environment. The SCS750's powerful processing capability and high availability make it the ideal choice for data processing or spacecraft control applications.

manufacturer: Maxwell Technologies

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