Unless you were paying attention to changes in manifest for the SpaceX Transporter-12 rideshare mission which launched yesterday, you wouldn’t know that the Grey Jay Constellation of three small satellites for Defence Research and Development Canada had launched.
The launch of the Grey Jay constellation was on Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:09 p.m. ET Tuesday. Manifested on the 12th SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission were a 131 small satellites.
The Grey Jay mission has been years in the making with Toronto based Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) getting a contract six years ago for the program. The launch had been planned for the 4th quarter of 2023 but was delayed. No reason was given.
The Gray Jay constellation will provide the Department of National Defence with remote surveillance and situational awareness in Canada’s Arctic. The three satellite constellation will fly in close formation in low Earth orbit. Along with SFL, other partners included A.U.G. Signals Ltd. and Space Strategies Consulting Ltd (SSCL).
Each Grey Jay satellite measures 30 x 30 x 40 cm in size and weighing between 30 kg and use SFL’s DEFIANT scalable satellite bus platform.
The planned orbit altitude for the Gray Jay constellation will be within 500-600 km. According to CelesTrak the trio of satellites were currently between 512-519 km. The satellites are designated JAY-C (NORAD #799601330), JAY-D1 (NORAD #799601331), and JAY-D2 (NORAD #799601332).
To detect airborne and surface activity below them in the Arctic, the Gray Jay microsatellites will have onboard RF sensors capable of detecting emission across multiple bandwidths including AIS, ADS-B, S-band, L-band, and X-band. The Gray Jays will also have infrared sensing capability via their onboard optics and camera.
SFL Director Dr. Robert E. Zee said of the launch, “Monitoring activities in the harsh high-latitude environment of the Arctic with space-borne assets is crucial to safeguarding national resources and interests. SFL is proud that our affordable microspace technology has made this ambitious demonstration mission a reality on a small budget.”
Note: The story was updated to include a quote from Dr. Zee and updated the weight of the satellite bus used.