The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has
awarded the £5.15 million satellite contract for the Orpheus
space domain awareness mission to Astroscale UK.
This will be a successor to the Prometheus-2 and
CIRCE missions that
were lost aboard the Virgin Orbit launch in 2023. Orpheus is a
collaborative effort between UK industry, government and
academia–as well as international government partners in Canada
and the US. Launch is anticipated to be in 2027.
Astroscale UK is working with subcontractor Open Cosmos Limited
who will design and build 2 near identical cubesats that
Astroscale UK will operate for the mission. The satellites will
fly in formation in Low Earth, Sun Synchronous Orbit to observe
and collect critical data using in-situ and remote sensing
techniques.
Dstl Chief
Executive, Dr Paul Hollinshead, said:
“Changes in space weather can have a critical impact on
satellites which provide navigation aids, telecommunications and
data transmission. Sustained investment in space research in
collaboration with our international partners strengthens the
security of UK interests in space.”
Orpheus will host a suite of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) payloads. These payloads
will include a Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) payload on each spacecraft
and an array of payloads to characterise the ionosphere (the
ionised portion of Earth's upper atmosphere) from several UK and
international partners.
HSI
payload
The 2 HSI payloads,
supplied by Dragonfly Aerospace, will capture image data to
support SDA and
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
scientific experiments and measurements of land-based, littoral
and ice over water targets.
Used in a lead-trail configuration in a near-polar earth
sun-synchronous orbit, the 2 HSI payloads will allow for the
detection and identification of materials and targets of interest
based on their spectral signatures.
Dragonfly Aerospace, South Africa and Defence Research
and Development Canada (DRDC),
Canada.
The satellites will carry the following payloads to measure the
effects of space weather:
Triple Tiny Ionospheric Photometers (Tri-TIP)
Characterises the ionosphere through observation of UV
wavelengths on the night-side of the Earth, using two payloads
with multiple different view angles to allow multi-point
sampling. US Naval Research Laboratory, US.
TOPside ionosphere Computer Assisted Tomography
(TOPCAT
II)
Derives total electron content of the propagation medium from
differential phase of received GPS signals. University of Bath,
UK.
Wind Ion Neutral Composition Suite (WINCS)
Provide in-situ observations of ions and neutrals (density,
temperature and winds/drifts). US Naval Research Laboratory, US.
Radiation Monitor (RadMon)
Comprised of a particle detector, dose rate monitor and total
dose monitor. Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, UK.
The suite of payloads carried on Orpheus will generate
observations enabling a greater understanding of the driving
processes of geophysical phenomena in the ionosphere-thermosphere
system, distributed across a wide range of latitudes.
Understanding the characteristics of the dynamic ionosphere is
vital for a range of both civil and defence applications such as:
- GNSS
- communications
- sensing technology
- space sustainability
This fully funded project will run for 3 years and will conclude
in 2028. It will cover the complete lifecycle of the mission,
from design through to launch, operations and disposal.
Orpheus is Astroscale UK's first defence mission and demonstrates
how the defence industry is a conduit for small and medium
enterprises to super charge their growth through defence
activities.
In the short-term, Orpheus will enable Astroscale to retain 10
direct jobs, in addition to a further 17 jobs for platform
partner Open Cosmos and the wider UK supply chain.
Find out more about Dstl's space
capability and how to work with us.
