Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announces the launch and deployment of Canada’s Gray Jay Arctic surveillance technology demonstration mission. Developed by SFL for Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the three 30-kg formation-flying microsatellites launched January 14 aboard the SpaceX Transporter-12 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Gray Jay spacecraft launched on the same SpaceX rideshare as the NorSat-4 maritime monitoring microsatellite built by SFL for the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA). The launch brings the number of operationally successful microspace satellites developed by SFL to 86.

DRDC funded the Gray Jay demonstration mission to support Canada’s ability to exercise sovereignty in the Arctic and provide enhanced situational awareness for safety and security applications. As a research and development mission, the microsatellite cluster flies in close formation and carries multiple sensors to enable independent methods of detecting surface and airborne objects, including radio frequency (RF) geolocation.

“Monitoring activities in the harsh high-latitude environment of the Arctic with space-borne assets is crucial to safeguarding national resources and interests,” said SFL Director Dr. Robert E. Zee. “SFL is proud that our affordable microspace technology has made this ambitious demonstration mission a reality on a small budget.”

Following a competitive process, DRDC selected SFL for the Gray Jay mission due to SFL’s highly successful track record in precise attitude control and formation flying – capabilities that are challenging to achieve reliably and consistently with low-mass smaller spacecraft. SFL was among the first microspace developers to affordably accomplish this feat. For Gray Jay, precise spacecraft attitude is critical for operation of the imaging payload, while accurate orbit determination and formation flying are important for RF geolocation sensors.

Over the past 26 years, several organizations have relied on SFL’s attitude control and formation flying expertise to accomplish operational mission goals that would be financially impractical with traditional-sized satellites. These technologies have made a variety of Earth observation, communications, environmental monitoring, and RF signal mapping applications commercially successful.

Established in 1998, SFL has developed 86 operationally successful smaller satellite missions totaling more than 360 cumulative years in orbit. Another 21 missions are now under development by SFL, which offers a complete suite of nano-, micro- and small satellites – including high-performance, low-cost CubeSats – that satisfy the needs of a broad range of mission types from 3 to 500 kilograms. 

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