THE STRV-1 MICROSATELLITE SERIES - EXPLOITING THE GEOSYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER ORBIT

Following 3 Successful years in orbit, the UK Defence Evaluation and R esearch Agency's two Space Technology Research Vehicle microsatellites (STRV) 1 a&b will be followed by a second mission. STRV 1 c&d are now in construction for a planned launch in 1999. The new mission, which includes 22 experimental payloads and developmental spacecraft bus tec hnologies from European, US and Canadian military, civil and commercia l sponsors, exploits the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) to offer an affordable, working space research tool for both government and ind ustry. The STRV 1 programme objective is to promote the enhancement of military and civil space communications, remote sensing and navigatio n capabilities at reduced cost and risk. Additional aims are to help i ndustry to achieve commercial benefit from investment in emerging tech nologies and to develop the synergy between government, commercial and civilian space applications. The paper explains how STRV 1 exploits t he variable altitude and high radiation environment of GTO to investig ate the performance of emerging technologies and techniques. This incl udes the accelerated Life testing of components and materials, such as infra-red detectors, advanced microprocessors and solar cell technolo gies, and the prototyping of new techniques to improve communications and spacecraft autonomy. Experiments include implementing a secure ver sion of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) pack et telecommand and telemetry standards, further development of the Int ernet-based Space Communication Protocol Standards (SCPS) and evaluati ng the exploitation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in geosynch ronous orbit. The new mission also builds on and extends the comprehen sive environmental monitoring achieved by STRV 1 a&b. Crown copyright (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.