In this day and age, with so much emphasis on cutting costs and debt reduction, the mantra is to do more with less. The satellite industry is no exception. With technology advances, small satellites suddenly look a whole lot more attractive on a number of levels.
Small satellites — from tiny pico and CubeSats to larger microsatellites — are fast becoming a cost-effective device of choice for low Earth orbit science, research and Earth observation missions. These low-mass (less than 1,000 kilos) spacecraft are significantly less expensive to build and deploy, making them an increasingly attractive option.
In response to shrinking federal budgets, cost overruns on large satellite programs and advances in cell phone technology, small satellites are now coming into their own for both civilian and increasingly military missions, where commanders need faster intelligence on the ground.
This summer, the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office will launch the highly anticipated ORS-1 reconnaissance satellite after several months of delay from imaging payload difficulties. The satellite represents a new approach to building and launching a satellite within 24 months of approval while being military-operated.
In 2012, the Air Force Research Laboratory, which has flown 12 small satellite missions in the past 18 years, will launch the Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) satellite. It will carry the “most complete set of space weather instruments ever flown in a highly elliptical orbit,” says Col. William Cooley, director of the lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate. In addition, NASA issued its draft solicitation for comment on the agency’s new Earth Venture II program in February. The program calls for projects with a total mission price between $150,000 and $150 million. Potential missions may focus not only on Earth observation, but also on sun exploration and astrophysics to explore stars and potentially uncover extrasolar (XO) planets.
The emerging small satellite market is giving largely defense-focused companies like ATK, which supplied the bus for the ORS-1 satellite, new opportunities to engage with civil agencies. “We’re finding there is tremendous growth potential projected over the next decade for earth imaging satellites on relatively small platforms of 200 to 300 kilograms total mass that can provide not only U.S. but also worldwide coverage,” says Robert Meurer, vice president of business development, commercial and international programs for ATK’s spacecraft systems and services division. A key advantage, Meurer adds, is the speed by which these assets can be built and deployed. He notes that the goal is for less than a two-year turnaround.
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