NEOSSat

Spacecraft nº:

Canadian spacecraft nº: 43

Launch data: Designation  39089 / 13009D Launch date  25 Feb 2013 - 12:31 UT Launch site  Sriharikota, FLP Launch vehicle  PSLV-CA Mission  Astronomy, Space sulveillance Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  779 x 793 km Eccentricity   Inclination  98.6 deg Period  100.4 min

Artist's concept of the NEOSSat satellite in orbit. Credit: University of Calgary

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Canada is building the world's first space telescope designed to search for hazardous Earth-crossing asteroids. Called NEOSSat (Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite), this spacecraft will provide a significant improvement in surveillance of asteroids that pose a collision hazard with Earth and innovative technologies for tracking satellites in orbit high above our planet.
• NEOSSat is the first follow up mission to the groundbreaking MOST (Microvariability and Oscillation of STars) spacecraft, a 60-kilogram satellite designed to measure the age of stars in our galaxy. NEOSSat also marks the first project using Canada's Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus. CSA's Space Technology branch launched the Multi-Mission Bus project to capitalize on technology developed for the MOST project by making it adaptable to future satellite missions.
• Although NEOSSat's 15-centimeter telescope is smaller than most amateur astronomers', its location approximately 700 kilometers above Earth's atmosphere will give it a huge advantage in searching the blackness of space for faint signs of moving asteroids. Twisting and turning hundreds of times each day, orbiting from pole to pole every 50 minutes, and generating power from the Sun, NEOSSat will send dozens of images to the ground each time it passes over Canada. Due to the ultra-low sky background provided by the vacuum of space, NEOSSat will be able to detect asteroids delivering as few as 50 photons of light in a 100-second exposure.

Mission details:

• NEOSSat, the Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite, is a joint Canadian Space Agency/DRDC mission to survey asteroids and space debris, also with a 0.15m telescope. (DRDC is Defense Research and Development Canada, part of the Canadian Dept. of National Defense).

Satellite tracking: