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The BRITE (BRIght Target Explorer) Constellation Mission team is the recipient of the 2024 Alouette Award which was presented at the recent gala dinner of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute ASTRO 2024 conference.
The BRITE Constellation Mission team recipients included:
- Space Flight Laboratory, Dr. Robert Zee
- Canadian Space Agency, Dr. Jean-Claude Piedboeuf
- Canadian BRITE Science Team, Dr. Slavek Rucinski
- Ceravolo Optical Systems, Peter Ceravolo
- Sinclair Interplanetary, Doug Sinclair
In a news release, the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) which built the satellites and was one of five organizations receiving the award, said, BRITE “is considered a success for achievements both in astronomical research and microspace technology. Funded jointly by Canada, Austria, and Poland, the goal of the BRITE mission – the world’s first space astronomy constellation – was to observe our galaxy’s brightest variable stars using space telescopes onboard the six 20x20x20-cm nanosatellites.”
“A primary challenge was for the 7-kg nanosatellites to maintain attitude control to keep the low-inertia spacecraft stable in orbit to precisely point their telescopes at the target stars for long periods. The BRITE satellites exceeded expectations and achieved pointing stability better than 12 arcseconds using small satellite attitude control technology developed and refined by SFL.”
“The other major accomplishment of the BRITE-Constellation was its longevity in making space astronomy observations. Three of the six SFL-built satellites operated for 10 years, far exceeding their two-year design lives. This enabled the mission to collect more than 1,600 photometric time series during more than 70 observation campaigns, each lasting months at a time.”
Nominations are open for the 2025 Alouette and other CASI senior awards.
