Grants and Contributions

The number of satellites and debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is increasing rapidly over time and few options exist to remove or mitigate their presence. Therefore, Space Situational Awareness (SSA) of objects in the vicinity of (or on course toward) a host satellite or space station is becoming more important, to improve risk management through advanced planning of active manoeuvres and to generally understand the debris population in LEO, for which there is a gap in publicly available information for objects below 10 cm cross-section.
MDA will develop and characterize a compact hemispherical lens assembly coupled to an innovative and high-sensitivity detector. The performance of the hemispherical camera will push range and resolution beyond what is available elsewhere. This project is a key stepping stone for MDA to develop a future multi-sensor SSA product that allows operators to survey and react to objects in their asset's vicinity, creating Canadian capability at the forefront of technology that supports understanding and mitigation of the growing problem of LEO over-population.

(20STDPM06) This project will investigate applications of machine intelligence to accelerate the evaluation and training systems for the configuration of model based tracking systems (also known as non-cooperative tracking). This will accelerate time to market for satellite rendezvous and proximity operations tools.

Enhancements to evaluation tools will allow significant increases in analysis capabilities which will both accelerate time to solutions and provide opportunities for improvements to mission safety and quality assurance.

The outputs of this study will result in significantly faster development of tracking configurations and algorithms, providing a key enabling technology to allow autonomous vehicles to engage in orbital debris removal, satellite servicing, and construction in LEO and beyond.

Space-based laser communication technologies offer significant reductions in size, mass and power compared to other space-based telecommunications technology, while increasing the capacity for high-speed, data-rich transmissions. This means that incredibly data-intensive payloads can be flown on even smaller spacecraft.

Neptec will develop a prototype of a low-Earth-orbit-to-ground optical communication pointing and tracking subsystem. The prototype will provide critical insight into technical unknowns required to develop future designs for the spacecraft needing an optical communications system (called a space optical terminal) and for future Canadian Space Agency science satellite projects.

This project entitled ""LiDAR-based Rover Navigation Software"" advances Neptec's rover-based planetary exploration technologies based on Neptec's in-house family of 3D scanning LiDAR sensors. The project will develop a LiDAR-based suite of navigation software that integrates LiDAR visual odometry, efficient mapping, path planning, and obstacle avoidance, using the unique scanning pattern provided by Neptec's sensors.

This project entitled ""Self Calibrating Radiation Tolerant Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC)"" is for the design and development of a Self Calibrating Radiation Tolerant Time-to-Digital Converter prototype that will comprise the following features: maintain its own accuracy across all operating conditions; allow for custom data processing and control logic to be implemented in a single device (thus reducing complexity of on-board electronics); and be used as part of a rangefinder for topographic mapping, satellite formation flying as well as rendezvous and docking operations.