A team at the University of Manitoba (UM) is working with Canadian and UK defence research organizations along with Magellan Aerospace to track orbital debris in challenging polar conditions. The Redwing/LISSA mission (named for the two satellites that will be central to the mission) will be tracking objects that could pose a collision risk to spacecraft in orbit over the North and South Poles, helping to develop systems to manage this unique challenge more effectively.
An October release from UM quoted UM’s Phillip Ferguson, Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and lead of UM’s Space Technology and Advanced Research Laboratory (STARLab) about the mission, where he said that “this is a challenge of global scale, requiring international collaboration between industry and academia.”
SpaceQ spoke with Ferguson about the mission.
International polar observation project
Ferguson said that the mission is officially “a joint project between Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in the UK to develop new space-based technology in support of space situational awareness.” Like many other observers of the space sector right now, both DRDC and Dstl are acutely aware of the danger that space objects can pose, including both orbital debris and inactive spacecraft, and that these threats are an international problem.
The actual satellite project, Ferguson said, is “primarily between Magellan Aerospace and STARLab,” where “the main customers are Dstl and DRDC (Defence Research and Development Canada).” The mission focuses on the operation of two observation satellites, Redwing and LISSA (Little Innovator in Space Situational Awareness), which will be launching together and operating in concert, imaging debris, spacecraft, and each other against the backdrop of Earth’s poles.
Magellan will be supplying Redwing, and STARLab will be supplying LISSA.
Both satellites will be tracking and observing space-based objects, and the release emphasized that LISSA will be focusing specifically on observing objects as they pass over the Earth’s South Pole, a region that is “not well-covered by ground-based space surveillance sensors”. Ferguson added that this is becoming more urgent, as the increasing density in intersecting polar orbits means that “we are starting to see congestion over the poles.” He said that, owing to “the challenges of detecting objects in the presence of considerable glare from the ice and snow,” they need to develop technology “to improve our situational awareness of these objects over the poles.”
These objects, Ferguon said, include both active spacecraft and debris, including “expired satellites, rocket bodies, and other debris [that] pose a threat to existing spacecraft.”
The two spacecraft will fly in tandem, 200 km from each other, in 575 km polar orbits. This spacing, Ferguson said, “enables unique perspectives on imaging space objects, while also providing an opportunity for the two spacecraft to image each other.” By using each other as references, the satellites will be able to calibrate their imagers more effectively, and Ferguson said that this will “lead to better characterizations of less-known objects in surrounding orbits.”
Magellan Aerospace is designing, building, and testing the Redwing microsatellite, “drawing upon heritage from the ongoing SCISAT-1 and CASSIOPE missions” according to Ferguson. LISSA is a 6U CubeSat being supplied by STARlab, and Ferguson said that LISSA “draws structural and avionics heritage from the successful Iris CubeSat.” According to the release, the Redwing satellite is valued at $15.8 million, while LISSA is being funded by a $900,000 Magellan contract with the Department of National Defence, signed in April of 2024.
Redwing will use an optical payload developed by ABB Inc., Ferguson said, while LISSA will include a Short Wave InfraRed (SWIR) camera developed by Bornea Dynamics Limited under contract with Dstl. The SWIR camera in particular, he said, was chosen to “enable better imaging over the poles without suffering from the glare caused by snow and ice.” Other partners include C-CORE (providing operations support), and York University.
Progress on satellites is “excellent”
Launch is scheduled for 2027, Ferguson said, with talks about a launch provider are “ongoing.” He said that progress on the production of the satellites is “excellent”; STARlab currently has “engineering models for all of the avionics systems functioning,” and has “simulated all phases of the mission to ensure orbit and attitude control systems will function properly.” He added that “these simulations use hardware-in-the-loop technology,” which means that “actual flight software running on the actual spacecraft hardware drives the simulation with simulated sensor and actuator actions.”
The Critical Design Review is later this year, he said, with flight hardware being built early in 2025 “with integrated mission tests occurring in late 2025 and throughout 2026,” leading up to the 2027 launch.
After the satellites are launched and the mission begins, the expectation is that this will be a three year mission. Ferguson said that “depending on fuel consumption and spacecraft health,” however, the team “may decide at a later date to extend the mission,” so long as they’re able to safely de-orbit the satellites at the end of their useful life, so as “to prevent further debris hazards in polar orbits”.
In the release, Corey Mack, Magellan’s Director of Engineering and Space Systems, said that they hope that this collaboration will “yield superior results in space domain awareness that would be impossible in isolation.” Scott McLelland, DRDC Director of R&D for the Defend North America strategic focus area, said that “DRDC is thrilled to have Dstl participate in the Redwing mission to help grow both nations’ defence space programs.”