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ESA Proba-2 Spacecraft To Validate More New Technologies
Paris, France (SPX) May 31, 2006 Proba-2, currently under development and due for launch in September 2007, is the second in ESA's series of small, low-cost satellites intended to validate new spacecraft technologies while also carrying scientific instruments. The Proba satellites are part of ESA's In-Orbit Technology Demonstration Program, funded through the General Support Technology Program. Proba-1, was launched in October 2001. Its primary payload was an imaging spectrometer that exploits the spacecraft's high-performance attitude control and pointing capabilities. Originally designed for a two-year mission, Proba-1 is now in its fifth year of operations. The spacecraft demonstrated 13 new technologies, including: - a new type of lithium-ion battery; - an advanced data and power management system, containing many new component technologies; - combined carbon-fiber and aluminum structural panels; - new models of reaction wheels, star trackers and GPS receivers; - an upgraded telecommand system with a decoder largely implemented in software; - a digital Sun-sensor; - a dual-frequency GPS receiver; - a fiber-sensor system for monitoring temperatures and pressures around the spacecraft; - a star-tracker, which was test-flown before use on ESA's BepiColombo mission to Mercury, currently scheduled for launch in 2013; - a very high precision flux-gate magnetometer; - an experimental solar panel with a solar flux concentrator; - a xenon gas propulsion system using resistojet thrusters and a solid-state nitrogen gas generator to pressurise the propellant tanks, and - an exploration micro-camera (X-CAM) with panoramic optics. In addition to the onboard technologies, Proba-2 will perform four experiments, two for solar observations and two for space weather measurements. The solar observations will be performed by a Lyman-Alpha radiometer and an extreme-ultraviolet telescope using new active pixel sensor technology - the Sun Watcher using AP-sensors and image Processing experiment. LYRA will monitor four bands in a very wide ultraviolet spectrum while SWAP will make measurements of the solar corona in a very narrow band. Both experiments are collaborations between the Royal Observatory and the Centre Spatiale de Liege, in Belgium, and the World Radiation Centre in Davos, Switzerland. The space weather experiments are Dual Segmented Langmuir Probes and a thermal plasma measurement unit. The DSLP will measure electron density and temperature in the background plasma of the Earth's magnetosphere, while the TPMU will measure ion densities and composition. Both experiments are provided by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links ESA Space Technology News - Applications and Research
AGS To Supply Services For FTI-SAT Program
Washington DC (SPX) May 29, 2006Americom Government Services announced Monday it is partnering with prime contractor Harris Corp. to support the FTI Satellite program on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration. AGS will be providing Ku-band and C-band connectivity under a multi-year contract to the FTI-SAT program, combined with redundant teleport facilities. |
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