Singapore to Launch Its Own Domestically Built Satellite

3 April 2010

Singapore's X-Sat satelitte (image : Wedlab)

Singapore to Launch Satellite

Singapore is set to launch its own domestically built satellite, X-Sat, into space in mid 2010.

The 120kg micro-satellite will launch atop an Indian Space Research Organisation-built polar satellite launch vehicle.

X-Sat, which is being developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and DSO National Laboratories, will be partly powered by solar energy and spend three years in orbit at an altitude of 800km, according to Strait Times.

Collecting images measuring soil erosion and monitoring environmental changes the micro-satellite relays information from sensors to a ground station at NTU.
X-Sat is expected to cost approximately S$40m (US$29m) and is scheduled to launch in June-July 2010.

(Aerospace Technology)

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X-SAT Onboard Navigation System

X-Sat is about 80cm in size and carries a colour camera, radio link and a Linux cluster. (photo : LinuxJournal)

X-SAT is a mini-satellite for technology demonstration and remote sensing applications, developed by the Satellite Engineering Centre of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. The focus of the technology-driven mission is the high-resolution remote sensing of the Southeast Asian region for environmental monitoring. To achieve the ambitious mission objectives, X-SAT will carry a GPS-based Navigation System (XNS) for high-precision, real-time, and onboard orbit determination and prediction. With a targeted position accuracy of about 1-2 m 3D rms, the XNS provides an unprecedented accuracy and thus enables the support of any satellite mission which requires precise onboard position knowledge.

X-SAT is a small platform with a total mass of less than 120 kg and a size of about 60 cm x 60 cm x 80 cm. The satellite carries three major payloads which comprise the IRIS multispectral sensor, the advanced data acquisition and messaging (ADAM) instrument for communication with remote mobile terminals and a parallel processing unit (PPU), e.g. for onboard image processing.

Targeted for a launch in 2006 by an Indian PSLV rocket, a near-circular sun-synchronous orbit at a nominal altitude of 685 km is the current mission baseline.

From this altitude, the IRIS main payload will provide a 10 m spatial resolution in the green, red, and near-infrared band at a swath width of 50 km.

(Linuxjournal)