GHGSat has once again turned to Toronto based small satellite builder Space Flight Lab to build its next three satellites, GHGSat-C3, C4 and C5.
With the new contract, Space Space Flight Lab (SFL) will have built all of GHGSat’s satellites. The list includes Claire (GHGSat-D), its demonstration satellite which launched in 2016 and continues to operate, along with Iris (GHGSat-C1) and Hugo (GHGSat-C2).
Iris was launched in September while Hugo is now scheduled for launch in mid-January on the SpaceX Transporter-1 rideshare mission according to CEO Stephe Germain in an email to SpaceQ.
According to SFL, GHGSat-C1 and C2 along with the forthcoming C3 – C5 satellites all use the SFL Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation (NEMO) microsatellite platform. The 15 kilogram platform has some unique features.
“GHGSat-C1’s ability to detect and measure small point sources of greenhouse gas emissions is due in part to the precise attitude control and target tracking capability of the SFL NEMO bus. Rare among satellite platforms of this size and relatively low cost, precise pointing of the onboard sensor is made possible by an accurate and stable platform – an important factor in SFL’s selection to build the GHGSat microsatellites.”
Commenting on the NEMO platform and its use by GHGSat, Dr. Robert Zee, SFL Director said “we have a very mature, well-developed, and high-performance attitude control system that can handle various maneuvers and pointing modes with relative ease. We fine-tuned the attitude control required for GHGSat-C1 by leveraging the results from the GHGSat-D demonstration mission, and we will make continued advancements in the next GHGSat constellation.”
GHGSat is planning on adding another six satellites to its constellation and it would seem likely that SFL will build those as well. The value of the contract was not released. However, GHGSat did announce in September that it had raised an additional US$30 million which would be used to build these three new satellites along with some additional sensors to be deployed in aircraft.