Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Innovation SFL Missions Secures Contract to Develop Next-Generation Satellite for GHGSat
SFL Missions Inc. has been selected by GHGSat, a Montreal-based leader in satellite-based greenhouse gas monitoring, to develop the GHGSat-D2 demonstration satellite. The new spacecraft is being designed to deliver more accurate, frequent and detailed measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from sources on Earth, marking a significant step forward in the capabilities of space-based environmental monitoring.
The GHGSat-D2 mission represents the next stage in the long-standing collaboration between SFL Missions and GHGSat. The companies have previously worked together to develop a series of satellites focused on detecting and measuring methane emissions from industrial facilities around the world. With the new demonstration mission, the partners are seeking to improve measurement sensitivity, coverage, pointing accuracy and satellite agility.
A central feature of the GHGSat-D2 spacecraft will be its larger and higher-accuracy greenhouse gas sensor, being manufactured by ABB Canada. ABB has previously supplied payloads for GHGSat missions. To accommodate the new sensor and the additional systems required for the mission, SFL Missions is developing GHGSat-D2 on its expanded DEFIANT-XL satellite bus.
The completed satellite is expected to have a launch mass of just under 100 kilograms. This represents a substantial increase in spacecraft size compared with the SFL NEMO microsatellite bus used for GHGSat’s original “Claire” Pathfinder mission in 2016 and the 11 commercial emissions-monitoring satellites launched since then. Those spacecraft averaged approximately 15 kilograms.
SFL Missions is also continuing development of additional GHGSat spacecraft. The company is currently building GHGSat-C18 and GHGSat-C19 on its NEMO bus at its Toronto facility.
“SFL Missions is pleased that GHGSat is teaming with us to make a significant technological advancement in its space-based greenhouse gas monitoring capabilities,” said Dr. Robert E. Zee, Director and CEO of SFL Missions.
GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain highlighted the importance of the companies’ continuing partnership and the technology improvements planned for the next generation of satellites.
“The collaboration between GHGSat and SFL has delivered satellites that changed the game for methane monitoring from orbit. Now, with our second-generation constellation, we’re building on that success to unlock a substantial leap in performance,” Germain said. “We’re proud to continue this partnership as we push the boundaries of what is possible from space.”
Improved Methane Detection and Measurement
One of the primary objectives of GHGSat-D2 is to improve the ability to identify and quantify methane emissions from relatively small sources on the ground. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and accurately locating individual emission sources can help organizations identify areas where mitigation efforts may have the greatest impact.
To support this objective, SFL Missions is incorporating the latest generation of its Attitude Determination and Control System, or ADCS, into the spacecraft. The system combines onboard software and hardware designed to maintain the satellite’s stability and precisely control its orientation while operating in orbit.
Precise pointing is particularly important for GHGSat’s mission because the satellite’s sensor must be directed accurately toward specific targets on Earth. Even small pointing errors can affect the spacecraft’s ability to collect useful measurements from individual facilities.
The upgraded GHGSat-D2 spacecraft is expected to detect methane emissions as low as 50 kilograms per hour from orbit. The satellite is also designed to substantially expand the amount of territory that can be monitored each day. Daily coverage per satellite is expected to reach approximately 20,000 square kilometers, twice the coverage capability cited for earlier spacecraft.
These improvements are intended to provide GHGSat with greater flexibility in collecting measurements and monitoring emissions across geographically dispersed locations.
Greater Satellite Agility
GHGSat-D2 will also feature greater maneuverability than previous GHGSat spacecraft. SFL Missions is designing the satellite to slew by as much as 45 degrees both across and along its orbital path.
The increased slew capability is important because it can allow the satellite to redirect its sensor toward targets without relying solely on the spacecraft’s original ground track. This can increase the frequency with which particular areas can be observed, a capability commonly referred to as the satellite’s revisit rate.
Higher revisit frequency can be particularly valuable for environmental monitoring applications where emissions can change over relatively short periods. By improving its ability to return to specific locations, GHGSat-D2 is being designed to support more responsive monitoring and data collection.
Expanded Spacecraft Architecture
The DEFIANT-XL bus provides additional capacity for the larger payload as well as several other systems designed to improve mission performance and spacecraft resilience.
Among these enhancements are two onboard star trackers. Earlier spacecraft configurations used a single star tracker, while GHGSat-D2 will use two. Star trackers provide precise information about a spacecraft’s orientation by identifying patterns of stars observed in the sky. This information can then be used by the attitude control system to support accurate pointing.
The dual-star-tracker configuration is expected to help the satellite maintain precision pointing regardless of its slew orientation. This capability is particularly relevant to GHGSat-D2 because of the spacecraft’s increased agility and its need to rapidly orient its sensor toward specific ground targets.
The satellite will also include a propulsion system. Propulsion will give GHGSat-D2 additional maneuverability, allowing the spacecraft to perform collision-avoidance maneuvers and counteract orbital drag. Atmospheric drag can vary with solar activity and gradually alter a satellite’s orbit, making propulsion an important feature for maintaining operational performance.
SFL Missions is additionally incorporating deployable solar panels into the spacecraft design. The larger solar array configuration will provide the electrical power needed to operate the higher-capacity greenhouse gas sensor along with the spacecraft’s expanded set of subsystems.
Building on GHGSat’s Satellite Monitoring Heritage
GHGSat pioneered facility-level methane detection and measurement from orbit in 2016 with its Claire Pathfinder mission. The spacecraft operated approximately 500 kilometers above Earth’s surface and demonstrated the potential for satellites to identify greenhouse gas emissions associated with individual industrial facilities.
Since then, GHGSat has expanded its satellite capabilities and customer base. Government and industry organizations use GHGSat data to monitor emissions from sectors including oil and gas, power generation, mining, waste management and agriculture.
According to GHGSat, its monitoring activities have supported the mitigation of more than 21 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO₂e) of methane emissions since operations began. The company equates that amount to the annual emissions associated with more than 4.9 million cars.
The continued development of GHGSat satellites reflects the growing role of Earth observation technologies in environmental monitoring. Satellite measurements can provide organizations with information about emissions from facilities located across large geographic areas, including sites that may be difficult or costly to monitor using conventional ground-based methods.
SFL Missions’ Satellite Development Experience
SFL Missions was selected to develop GHGSat spacecraft in part because of its experience in precision attitude control and target tracking. These capabilities allow spacecraft to accurately orient onboard sensors toward specific locations on Earth, an essential requirement for high-resolution greenhouse gas measurements.
The company says its spacecraft heritage includes 98 operationally successful missions and more than 470 cumulative years in orbit. SFL Missions develops nano-, micro- and small satellites using space-proven bus platforms ranging from approximately 3 to 500 kilograms.
Its satellite technologies support a variety of applications, including Earth observation, communications, environmental monitoring, maritime situational awareness, space astronomy and scientific research.
The company conducts end-to-end microspace mission development from its Toronto facility, where 33 satellites are currently under development for commercial, government and research customers around the world.
SFL Missions also operates a Flex Production program intended to provide NewSpace customers with greater flexibility in spacecraft development and integration. Through the program, customers can choose to have satellites developed or integrated at their own facilities or at a third-party location.
The GHGSat-D2 project adds another major environmental monitoring application to SFL Missions’ growing satellite portfolio. By combining a larger sensor, enhanced attitude control, greater maneuverability, additional tracking capabilities, onboard propulsion and deployable solar power, the demonstration spacecraft is being designed to provide a new level of performance for orbital greenhouse gas monitoring.
As GHGSat continues expanding its satellite-based emissions monitoring capabilities, GHGSat-D2 is expected to serve as an important technology demonstration for the company’s next-generation constellation. The partnership with SFL Missions builds on nearly a decade of satellite development experience between the two organizations while focusing on improved detection, measurement frequency and coverage of methane emissions from sources on Earth.
Source Link:https://www.businesswire.com/
