Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 Orbit Operations: Over a Year of Pushing the Nanosatellite Performance Envelope

Details Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 Orbit Operations: Over a Year of Pushing the Nanosatellite Performance Envelope Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 Orbit Operations: Over a Year of Pushing the Nanosatellite Performance Envelope

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm33c1581z&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM33C-1581

Computer Science

Performance

[0340] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Middle Atmosphere: Composition And Chemistry, [0345] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Pollution: Urban And Regional, [0365] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Troposphere: Composition And Chemistry, [0399] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / General Or Miscellaneous

Scientific paper

The Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 2 (CanX-2) was launched in April 2008 and has demonstrated the utility of nanosatellites for scientific missions for well over a year. The objective of the CanX program is to develop highly capable nanospacecraft, i.e. spacecraft under 10 kilograms, in short timeframes of 2-3 years. CanX missions offer low-cost and rapid access to space for scientists, technology developers and operationally-responsive missions. The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) developed the CanX-2 nanosatellite, a 3.5-kg, 10 x 10 x 34 cm satellite, or triple CubeSat. The satellite features a collection of scientific and engineering payloads that push the envelope of capability for this class of spacecraft. An objective of CanX-2 is to test and demonstrate several enabling technologies for precise formation flight. These technologies include a custom cold-gas propulsion system, a 30 mNms nanosatellite reaction wheel as part of a three-axis stabilized Y-Thomson attitude control subsystem, and a commercially available GPS receiver. CanX-2 also performs science experiments including the measurement of greenhouse gas concentrations and profiling of atmospheric water vapor content and total electron count. These scientific experiments are accomplished by virtue of an atmospheric spectrometer provided by York University, and GPS radio occultation measurements for the University of Calgary. After more than a year of success in orbit, the nanosatellite has met or exceeded all mission objectives and continues to demonstrate the cost-effective capabilities of this class of spacecraft. Key achievements to date include successful GPS radio occultations and spectrometer measurements, in addition to proving technologies, including the characterization of the propulsion system, a full demonstration of the attitude determination and control subsystem including capabilities in accurate payload pointing (including nadir-tracking) and orbit-normal alignment, long-duration reaction wheel operation, and unprecedented radio performance for an operational nanosatellite. The mission, the engineering and scientific payloads, and a discussion of notable orbit achievements and experiences of CanX-2 are presented. CanX-2 during environmental test.

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