LAUNCHING NANOSATS AFFORDABLY,

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Mr Alan Webb
Commercial Space Technologies Ltd., United Kingdom, cst@commercialspace.co.uk

Mr. Abe Bonnema
Innovative Solutions In Space B.V., The Netherlands, a.r.bonnema@isispace.nl

Dr. John Paffett
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., United Kingdom, j.paffett@sstl.co.uk
CST CORPORATE PAGE
(coming to a slide near you!)
CONSULTANCY
space technology and planning
Insurance
UK government
CST Services
COMMERCE
marketing and trading
representation and logistics
management/facilitation of international projects
LAUNCHERS
launcher services brokering
launch solutions provision
CST Launching History
YEAR DATE LAUNCHER
(MODE)
SATELLITE(S)
1995 August 31 Tsyklon (1 piggy-back) Fasat Alpha
1998 July 10 Zenit (2 piggy-back) Fasat Bravo + TM Sat
1999 April 21 Dnepr (1 dedicated) Uo Sat 12 (first commercial use of SS-18)
2000 June 28 Cosmos (2 piggy-back) Tsinghua 1 +Snap (first SSO flight of Cosmos)
2000 September 26 Dnepr (1 piggy-back) Tiung Sat
2002 November 28 Cosmos (main in
cluster)
Alsat-first Disaster Monitoring Constellation
(DMC)
2003 September 27 Cosmos (cluster) NigeriaSat-1, BilSat-1 and UK-DMC (all
DMC)
2004 June 29 Dnepr (main in cluster) Demeter (CNES, first SSO flight of Dnepr)
2005 October 27 Cosmos (cluster) TopSat, ChinaSat (DMC), SSETI Express+ 3
cubesats
2008 August 29 Dnepr (cluster) RapidEye constellation
2009 July 29 Dnepr (cluster) UK-DMC2 + DEIMOS-1 (both DMC)
2009 September 17 Soyuz/Fregat (1 piggy-
back)
SumbandilaSat (first piggy-back from this
launcher combination)
2010 June 15 Dnepr (1 of a pair) Picard (CNES, paired with Prisma)
2011 August 17 Dnepr (cluster) NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X
2012 July 22 Soyuz/Fregat (1 piggy-
back)
ADS-1B
ISIS Company Overview
ISIS is a Nanosatellite Mission Specialist
Spin-off of Delfi-C3 nanosatellite project of TU Delft
Office locations in Delft, NL, and South Africa
ISIS offers systems, platforms, missions and applications
Also specialized in launch services for nanosatellites
Developer of innovative launch deployment systems
Multiple nanosatellites launched on various launch vehicles
Industrial partner for the QB50 Mission and Launch



TRITON-1:
AIS Demonstrator
A highly innovative payload, receiving the AIS position
messages that are broadcasted by virtually all ocean
going vessels.
This miniaturized, and low-power payload runs
advanced signal processing algorithms in order to be
able to correctly receive such messages in areas of high
vessel density, where most current satellite AIS
detection systems are blinded by the overlap of
signals and the resulting interference.
www.ISILaunch.com Our mission is to launch yours
Changing the economics of space
Corporate objectives
Surrey Satellite Technologys corporate objectives are to:

Lead the World in the development and provision of small satellite systems,
applications and services.
Maintain and develop innovation capability.
Maintain and develop the uniqueness of SSTL
Provide customers with high quality, good value products and services.
Develop a sustainable and profitable business.
Develop a complementary portfolio of business to mitigate risk and generate multiple
revenue streams.
Develop and grow new small satellite applications and services.
Secure access to affordable launch services

In order for the company to remain at the forefront of the small satellite engineering field it is
necessary for it to continue to grow, improve its product offering and leverage its capability for
the provision of other products and services.

The establishment of an Isle of Man entity for provision of launch and launch related services is
one strategy currently under consideration.

Surrey Satellite Technology - a history of success
7
HERITAGE: Flight proven - low risk
41 Satellites completed c.200 satellite
years on-orbit experience
40 Low Earth Orbit, 1 Medium Earth
Orbit
RESULTS: All projects fixed price, delivered on-time and
on-budget
SUCCESS: Very high mission success >95% in last 10
years proven equipment and full
redundancy
CUSTOMERS: Variety of customers including many blue
chip operators as well as
15 successful training programmes
Mission
Definition &
Design
Subsystem
Design &
Manufacturing
Assembly
Integration &
Test
Spacecraft
Testing
Environmental
Test
Mission
Commission &
Operations
Launch
Procurement,
Management,
Integration &
Support
Cradle-to-grave
capability from
mission definition
through to launch,
commissioning and
operations.
The CubeSat Launching Dilemma
CubeSat benefits:
Modular design of uniform dimensions (1U = 10cm X 10cm X 10cm)
Off the shelf components (thus cheap and easy to design and build)
Good training platform for satellite engineers
Attracts a large and diverse range of technical experience (from university
groups to companies well established in industry)
Inspires ingenuity

CubeSat shortfalls:
The stimulation of numerous engineers with limited capital and experience for
launch procurement (mainly students and start-ups formed by young
professionals)
Creates a significant number of very small payloads looking for launch
opportunities at minimal cost
Overwhelms commercial launch service providers (LSPs) with enquiries
Offers minimal return for LSPs efforts
LSPs perturbing CubeSat developers with inflated launch prices
CubeSat launch assurance becomes unpredictable, challenging and costly

What Does the Average CubeSat Customer
Require?
An experienced launch procurement and
management team
Predictable, reliable and regular launch
opportunities
Affordable launch prices
BUT...
launch management fees that do not scale down with
satellite size often outweigh the cost development
and are not budgeted for
CST and SSTL NanoSat History

TopSat, DMC, SSETI
Express, plus three
CubeSats launched
on COSMOS
October 27
th
2005
(bottom right).

SNAP-1 launched on COSMOS June 28
th
2000 (left & top right).

Developing an Alternative CubeSat
Launching Model
STRaND-1 launched on PSLV February 25
th
2013 (top left) and Ukube-1 to be
launched on Soyuz-Fregat late in 2013 (top right)
ISIPOD CubeSat dispensers (bottom left) and the QB50 deployment system
provided by ISIS (bottom right)
An Alternative Model
Individual Company Roles
ISIS works directly with the customer, integrating their
CubeSat payload (alongside others) into a designated
dispenser.

SSTL arranges for reliable and frequent piggy-back
opportunities for aggregated Cubesat packages in conjunction
with their own missions. The launch campaign team can also
be leveraged to support the management and integration
activities. This reinforces an already well established
relationship between SSTL and the LSP.

CST - interacts with and supports SSTL in the negotiation with
and management of the LSP, and provides much needed in-
country support for the launch campaign activities.

CubeSat Dispenser Integration
Aggregated package of CubeSats of
about 50 kg, with its own
deployment sequencer system
6U and 12U CubeSats and their relevant
ISIPOD deployer types
Conclusions
CubeSat developers from academic institutions or fledgling companies
often have constrained budgets
Lacking available dedicated nanosat launchers force these CubeSat
developers to approach several LSPs
Overwhelmed by CubeSat customers offering little return for the effort
required, LSPs attempt to discourage through increased launch prices.


CubeSat customers take advantage of the experience and reputation of
CST, ISIS and SSTL in the launcher market
Multiple CubeSats are integrated into one ISIS dispenser, sharing
managerial, logistical and launch costs
CST arranges piggy-back launches on frequent SSTL missions
Cost advantages are obtained by combining launch contracts presented to
the LSP
ISIS dispensers are handled as one payload, easing pressure off the LSP
resulting in reasonable launch quotes.
The end result is affordable, reliable and frequent launch opportunities for
the CubeSat customer.