March 2000

Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems

Number 86, March 2000

Send messages
to space

disc will form a record of what Australians thought at the

turn of the new century.
FedSat is the first major project of the Cooperative
Research Centre for Satellite Systems.
Australia is back in space, make no mistake, said
Centre Executive Director Dr Brian Embleton. The
cooperative approach adopted by the Centre means that
our partners can get experience and space data more
quickly and at lower cost. The new SpaceGram service
makes it possible for all Australians to take part in this
exciting journey.
Audio messages can be on any subject, of any length.
The SpaceGram service will operate until about the end of
July 2000.
If you cant go
into space
yourself, why
not at least send
a message?
Funds raised by
the SpaceGram
service project
will support
Australian space
research and
education.

ustralians can now speak to the sky. From the

end of March 2000, a telephone service will record
audio messages to fly into space on Australias newest
satellite.
The SpaceGram service, 1902 974 001, costs $3.95 per
minute and allows Australian callers to leave messages
for inclusion on the first compact disc (CD) in orbit. The
disc will be mounted on the side of FedSat, Australias
scientific microsatellite being launched from Japan next
year as part of the Centenary of Federation celebrations
[SpIN 85].
The CD will also carry what may be the first Australian
song in space: From Little Things Big Things Grow (Kelly/
Carmody), performed by Australian artist Paul Kelly.
Paul Kellys song is the perfect theme for our satellite
and we are grateful to the writers and publishers for their
permission to use it, said CD project manager, Jeff
Kingwell. Our satellite is a small one but we hope it will
prove to be the beginning of bigger and better things for
Australian space exploration.
This project means that any Australian can get into
space, virtually speaking. The messages we will record
through the SpaceGram service will circle the Earth for
about a hundred years. Perhaps during that time space
systems will advance so that the satellite and its time
capsule can be recovered. Just to be on the safe side, we
are leaving a copy of the CDand a compact disc player
at the National Museum of Australia, opening in Canberra
about the time our satellite is launched next year. The

Australian singer/
songwriter
Paul Kelly.
Courtesy EMI.

Space technology
meeting in Australia

United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia

and the Pacific [SpIN 85].
The Delhi conference agreed on a new space development plan, the second Regional Space Applications
Programme. This programme is intended to extend, to
more countries in the region, the practical benefits of
space technology applicable to sustainable development.
The programme is particularly pitched at: environment
and resource management; food security; capacity
building; education; poverty alleviation; reducing natural
disasters; improving health; and assisting development

he CRC for Satellite Systems will host a high-level

space meeting in Canberra from 24-26 May this year.
The event will be part of a new round of regional cooperative space activities following the Second Ministerial
Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, hosted by the Government of India last November under the auspices of the

CRCSS Space Industry News

Continued on back page ...

Issue #86

In this issue ...

Send messages to space . . . . . . .

FedSat structural
testing
1

Space technology meeting

in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
FedSat structural testing . . . . . . . . 2
GPS: an enabling technology . . . . 4
2nd CRCSS conference . . . . . . . . . . 6
Variable Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

CRCSS Space Industry News

SpIN is published quarterly in March, June, September and December by the:
Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems
GPO Box 1483
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
Phone: 61 2 6216 7270
Facsimile: 61 2 6216 7272
http://www.crcss.csiro.au/
e-mail: firstname.lastname@crcss.csiro.au
ISSN 1329-4857
First issue: Number 78, March 1998
Former titles:
COSSA Space Industry News ISSN 0816-7-44, Nos. 1-35,
Nov. 1985-Aug. 1990
CSIRO Space Industry News ISSN 1037-5759, Nos. 36-77,
Oct. 1990-Dec. 1997
Editors: Wayne Deeker & Jeff Kingwell, CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics
Editorial consultant: Brian Embleton
Design & production: Wayne Deeker
Transcript typsists: Christine Sharrad
Contributions and reproduction
Contributed articles should arrive at the above address by the beginning of the month before
the month of publication. Material published in SpIN may be quoted or reproduced if
accompanied by an acknowledgment to the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems.
Disclaimer
To the extent permitted by law the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems accepts
no responsibility for the way information or opinions in CRCSS Space Industry News are
interpreted or used.
Masthead and Variable Orbits graphics design, Wayne Deeker.
Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems, Canberra, 2000

Wayne Deeker

uch of the design work in satellites is to ensure that

they survive the first four minutes of their lives.
Vibrational forces during start-up and launch can shake
spacecraft to destruction, with catastropic results for the
launch vehicle and/or other payloads. So satellite engineers
must design light and cost-effective structures, but tough
enough to survive launch.
FedSat Engineering Program Leader, Chris Graham,
explains that while the vibration itself is horrendous, its
not the only threat. If parts start resonating at the critical
frequency theyll just shake themselves to bits. Its like the
front tyre of a car going into resonance and generating
destructive forces. Electronic boards shatter if they havent
been built to cope; other bits can break and fly off.
Designing satellites to cope with the vibrational forces, and
to avoid resonance, combined with thermal vacuum conditions, largely dictates the overall design. Pre-launch testing,
consisting of violently shaking a structural model, confirms
the design is adequate. FedSat recently underwent this
crucial stage.
At the end of January, CRCSS engineers tested the FedSat

structural model at the facilities of CRCSS partner Vipac

Cooperative Research Centre

for Satellite Systems
Mission
The Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (CRCSS) delivers sustainable advantage
for Australian industries, universities and government agencies involved in services based on
applications of small satellites.
The Centre commenced on 1 January 1998, under the Cooperative Research Centres Program of
the Commonwealth of Australia. Objectives of this program include:
to contribute to national objectives, including economic and social development;
to stimulate broader education and training experience;
to capture the benefits of research and strengthen links between research and its
commercial and other applications;
to promote cooperation in research.
The core participants of the Centre comprise:
University of South Australia
CSIRO
Queensland University of Technology
University of Technology, Sydney*
Auspace Limited
Vipac Engineers & Scientists Limited
University of Newcastle
The Centre also includes as supporting participants:
Defence Science & Technology Organisation
La Trobe University
Codan Qld. Ltd.
DSpace Pty Ltd
Curtin University of Technology
Space Innovations Limited*
* Subject to government approval
SpIN issues to #68 are online and cross-referenced at:
http://www.crcss.csiro.au/spin/spinmain.html

CRCSS Space Industry News

March 2000

Engineers and Scientists Limited, in Melbourne.

There are many options for structural testing. Ours is the
lowest level of testing to prove our design and meet the
launch agency requirements, said Chris. Depending on their
complexity, some satellites undergo exhaustive multi-stage
pre-launch physical tests. But the minimum for all satellites
is a structural vibration test and a thermal analysis. Were
just taking the simplest, least expensive path, said Chris.
Structural testing involves a physical model of the satellite.
Some, depending on their complexity, will be full engineering models, which are real working equipment, but our
time scale and budget doesnt allow that, said Chris. Our
structural model is the physical metalwork forming the
satellite, with dummy masses representing onboard equipment attached in the correct relationships.
The centres of gravities of all the components are correctly
oriented around the structure. So when all that comes
together, its representative from a mass and a mass location
point of view. And thats quite complex, even in little
satellites, to get right.
The testing consisted of placing the structural model on the
vibration platform, and shaking it to the launcher-specified
frequencies, in this case from 20-2000 cycles per second,
separately in each of the three planes. Accelerometers are
on-board the model, critically placed to measure how its
reacting to the forces, said Chris.
Shakers come in two main types, electromagnetic and
hydraulic. They resemble giant versions of the paint-tin
shakers in hardware stores, except their movements are much
more precise, and usually limited to one plane only.
Its moving so fast you cant see it, said Chris, but if you
put your hand on it you can feel the vibration. The structural
model is closed up, so its insides arent visible. All youve got
to do is watch the accelerometer outputs on the oscilloscopes.
But in general you could see that it was coping and surviving
in the environment. But other satellites can be more
dramatic; some have large antennas and other arms hanging
off them. Once they start shaking, you can physically see
them moving. Theres no problem with that if theyve been
designed to survive.
Once the testing in one direction is complete, the model is
turned around, and shaken in the other directions.
And all that data are analysed to make sure that the
structure has survived, that it hasnt sustained a failure. Not
all failures are dramatic; a contained fracture is just as
serious as a breakage, said Chris.
The whole test sequence was completed in a week, which
was good. First because the shaker worked, secondly that
FedSat survived. If anything had gone wrong with either,
youve got to fix something, and the test spins out. But such
tests always reveal minor faults. Those slight failures and
shortcomings must be rectified in the manufacturing process
so they dont recur. We had our share of these, but, thankfully, none affected the integrity of the structure.
So FedSat passed, and can move onto the next phase. The
process now is to go through appropriate drawing changes
and build standards with the manufacturers, then we release
for manufacture, and then were getting on and building
FedSat, said Chris. At the same time were doing the same
thing for the payload boxes. After that we assemble the flight

CRCSS Space Industry News

FedSat structural model, ready for vibration testing, late January.

When fully assembled, the FedSat panels form an enclosed cube,
with the dummy payloads, here visible, inside. The external frame is
for handling the model. Photo courtesy VIPAC.

model of FedSat.
The FedSat structure should be assembled in England at
Space Innovations Limited by the end of March. Then theres
platform system integration and further testing for a month,
for delivery to Auspace in Canberra at the end of April. Then
we start integrating the payloads one by one and testing each
individually on the platform; then well start testing them
alongside one another, and finally we will have the complete
satellite tested, hopefully by the end of November, said
Chris.
Once the whole things assembled, its back to the shaker
to confirm the flight model behaves as the structural model.
Thatll be a far more gentle test than the structural model
went through. Then well take it to a thermal vacuum
chamber.
A satellite must self-sufficiently regulate its own temperature; too hot or too cold and components stop working.
Thats a challenge to achieve in space; theres no air for
convection, and satellites operate in huge temperature
extremes during their orbit. Some very complex satellites
have an array of active temperature control systems. FedSat
has a passive control system, says Chris. Its small enough,
we believe, for the structure itself to dissipate or contain the
heat.
In the thermal vacuum test, You put the satellite in the
chamber and evacuate it to space conditions. Inside the
chamber you can heat one side of it, or cool the other side.
Plus you can also switch the equipment on and off, and run it
over the lengths of time you wish. So, in other words, you do
a full simulation of what the satellite is likely to be subjected
to in space. And by monitoring the temperatures around the
satellite, you can tell whether the thermal balance is being
maintained. The test also allows us to assess the electronic
systems working together in rigorous conditons.
In a less time- and budget-restricted mission, itd be
desirable to perform the thermal vacuum test on an engineering model; but for FedSat, itll be on the real thing. If it
works, it proves that the thermal design was right, and that
everything is set for launch.
Well know in November.

Issue #86

GPS: an enabling
technology
Photo W. Deeker

Dr Yanming Feng,
CRCSS research
fellow at Queensland
University of Technology [SpIN 82],
examines the exciting
future of GPS applications. Small GPS
chips aboard satellites may replace
large and expensive
ground stations, and
open up new areas
of scientific research
and satellite control.

he American satellite-based Global Positioning

System (GPS) has brought tremendous navigational
and other benefits to ground users since its inception in
the 1980s. But the system can also greatly streamline
operations of spacecraft and space systems, reducing the
cost and complexity of ground support.
As a sensor on-board spacecraft, GPS is capable of
autonomously determining spacecraft trajectories,
delivering precise time synchronisation to spacecraft
electronics, sensing vehicle attitude, measuring the
relative distances between space vehicles, and sounding
the atmosphere.
But thats just the start; Dr Frank Bauer, Chief Scientist
at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC), says
current vision for future space engineering applications of
GPS technology may eventually facilitate autonomous
operation of: on-board navigation and orbit control;
attitude determination and control; rendezvous and
proximity; and coordination between platforms. However,
achieving this vision may take a decade or so of development, and probably two further generations of flight
receiver designs.

Ground control

Traditionally, ground-based spacecraft navigation has

been achieved through ranging and trajectory determination techniques [SpIN 70, 83]. Planning and controlling the orbit of a single spacecraft is labour intensive.
Simultaneously performing these functions from the
ground on several spacecraft is extremely complex,
requiring very skilled personnel. GPS time-, orbit- and
attitude- data enable spacecraft system developers to
accomplish autonomous orbit manoeuver planning, and
autonomous station keeping maneuvers onboard the
spacecraft, without the extensive ground infrastructure.
This results in a substantial reduction in mission oper-

ation costs.
And where ground stations remain necessary, GPS
technology will also extend their automation. GPS
receivers are being incorporated into ground stations as a
timing synchronisation source, which, together with
spaceborne GPS, enables lower cost lights out operation. The number of ground operation personnel can be
reduced, since ranging and ephemeris uplinks are no
longer required. Ground-based equipment cost will be
also reduced.
Further automation of ground stations can occur
through use of systems such as Transportable Antenna
Pointing Systems (TAPS), first proposed and developed at
GSFC using GPS. The TAPS concept integrates a GPS
altitude and navigation receiver into a spacecraft antenna
pointing system, to provide complete autonomy in ground
station operations. GPS is used to provide time synchronisation, 3D positioning and altitude sensing for
autonomous antenna pointing to spacecraft. TAPS can
also be mounted on moving vehicles, including vans,
ships, aircraft and even satellites. TAPS concepts have
been successfully demonstrated.

Science

The Earth- and space-science communities have already

started planning revolutionary scientific measurements
and science missions that would use clusters of spacecraft
flying in formation (called virtual platforms). One of the
technological hurdles to autonomous formation flying is
two-way navigation communication between space
vehicles. This capability is planned for incorporation in
the third generation GPS system. The third generation
GPS system will have transmit/receive capability and
GPS-on-Chip. When this generation system is coupled
with autonomous on-board manoeuver planning and orbit
control software, autonomous relative ranging between
space vehicles and formation flying becomes feasible. This
allows synchronous scientific measurements to be made
on multiple space vehicles. Multiple spacecraft formation
flying as a virtual platform and gathering concurrent
scientific data will soon be feasible, once the GPS and
formation flying technologies have fully matured (Figure
1).
Space-borne GPS has also enabled new space-based
scientific experiments and missions. Dr Tom Yunck,
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist, believes that
applications of spaceborne GPS to Earth sciences include:
centimeter-level precise orbit determination (POD) to
support ocean altimetry; improvements to the Earth
gravity model and other enhancements to GPS global
geodesy; high resolution 2D and 3D ionospheric imaging
and atmospheric limb sounding to gather precise profiles
of atmospheric density, pressure, temperature and water
vapour distribution (see also SpIN 84).
Sounding of the atmosphere with GPS is also called
space-based GPS meteorology. GPS receivers on-board low
Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites collect signals transmitted
from GPS satellites during brief atmospheric occultation
events; when GPS satellites approach the horizon their

signals travel through the atmosphere to the LEO

CRCSS Space Industry News

March 2000

Figure 1. GPS-enabled satellies in flying formation, illustrating a virtual platform.

satellite (Figure 3). The refraction and slowing of the

GPS signal observed during these events can be converted
to a vertical refractivity profile (called limb sounding).
These profiles indicate temperature distribution within
the stratosphere, and water vapor distribution within the
troposphere, critical to weather forecasting and global
climate modelling.
A single LEO GPS receiver could observe more than 500
such occultations per day, with roughly uniform global
coverage. FedSats GPS receiver gives it limb sounding
capability, and could provide many GPS occultation
measurements per day for conducting research in
Australia.
GPS meteorology could lead to significant improvements in operational weather forecasting because forecast
models must be initialized with three-dimensional
temperature, moisture, pressure, and wind data, and
limitations in the spatial and temporal density of present
operational sounding networks greatly constrain the
accuracy of these models. GPS meteorological data could
be valuable for climatological studies by providing an
accurate way to monitor long term trends, particularly in
the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
There is also a potential application of GPS signals for
ocean altimetry. With a downward-facing antenna, a
flight GPS receiver on a low-altitude satellite could be

CRCSS Space Industry News

used to receive reflected signals from the ocean surface to

extract altimetry information. Such altimetry would be
superior to conventional radar altimetry in three aspects:
sea surface heights at up to 12 points could be determined
instead of the single point now possible; 2) the user
satellite only need be equipped with one GPS receiver
doubling as the GPS control system, as above; and 3) the
delay spread of the reflected signals depends on the seasurface roughness, so that this technique may allow
scatterometry-like measurements of surface weather
conditions. Current research has shown this technology is
viable and promising.
Whatever the future holds regarding satellite control
systems, theres no doubt future GPS systems will open
up new areas of planetary and atmospheric study,
bringing better ways of learning about our planet.

Below left, Figure 2: emerging applications of spaceborne GPS

applications to Earth sciences. Below right, Figure 3: space-based
GPS meteorology. Both pictures courtesy NASA JPL.

Issue #86

2nd CRCSS
conference

he CRCSS held its second annual conference from 1517 February, at a resort venue in the Adelaide district
of West Lakes. The conference combined progress presentations from CRCSS personnel, with the first stage of the
formal second-year review all CRCs undergo as part of
their performance assessment.
Deputy Director of the CRCSS, Professor Michael Miller
of UniSA, welcomed the delegates on the first night, on
behalf of the Universitys Dean of Students. Chair of the
Centre Governing Board, Tony Staley, also gave comments
of welcome and encouragement. He mentioned the
extensive community interest hed noticed in the Centres
work.
Over seventy staff and students, representing most of
the CRCSS partner organisations, gave presentations on
their work. Research staff gave detailed presentations
about completed and future work in the CRCSS research
programsSpace Science, Communications, Satellite
Systems, and Satellite Engineeringwhile postgraduate
students gave briefer presentations about their research
topics. The conference also involved several other presentations, including one from Australian Space Research
Institute (ASRI) members about another Australian
microsatellite project, JAESAT, managed jointly with the
CRCSS. SpIN will feature some of these projects throughout the year.
The Stage 1 Review panel consisted of: Professor John
Simmons (Chair), Head of the Queensland University
School of Engineering; Professor Soon Dal Choi, DirectorGeneral of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technologys (KAIST) Satellite Technology Research
The Lakes Resort Hotel, West Lakes, Adelaide. All photos W. Deeker.

Centre; Professor
Richard Dowden, spacescientist from the
University of Otago,
New Zealand; and David
Hoffman, General
Manager, Telecommunications, of Computer
Sciences Corporation
Australia. Centre Visitor,
Dr Katherine Woodthorpe, assisted the
review panel.
Towards the end of
Professor John Simmonds, Chair of
Review Panel.
the conference, Professor Simmons gave preliminary feedback regarding the
review panels deliberations. He said he was impressed
with the CRCs work so far, and progress towards its
goals.
The Panel will compile its First Stage review report
following the conference. The Centre Board will then
respond to the report, and forward it to the CRC Secretariat with the Commonwealth Department of Industry
Science and Resources. The Seond Stage Review report
will be completed in May 2000.
Professor Miller said combining the Centres conference
with the review had been unique among CRCs, and an
excellent idea since it showed us warts and all.
As part of the conference program, Professor Soon Dal
Choi initialed an agreement with the CRCSS, signed in
May last year [SpIN 83], whereby a duplicate FedSat
communications payload would fly on KAISTSAT-4 in
2002. Several satellites carrying the same payload increases that payloads effectiveness; it will mean more
frequent satellite passes, increasing the total communications time available.
The next CRCSS conference will be held in Feb. 2001.

CRCSS Space Industry News

March 2000

Above majority
of CRCSS
people. Far left,
Professors Soon
Dal Choi and
Steve Seumahu.
Left, signing
ceremony
commemorating
agreement
between CRCSS
and KAIST. Front
row, Professor
Soon Dal Choi
and Dr Brian
Embleton, Exec
Director CRCSS.
Back L-R, Bill
Cowley,
Johnathan
Walley, Steve
Seumahu, and
Mike Miller.
Below, Review Panel L-R: John Simmonds, Katherine Woodthorpe, Soon Dal Choi, David Hoffman. Not shown, Richard Dowden.

CRCSS Space Industry News

Issue #86

Institution of Engineers Australia, National

Committee on Space Engineering
Chris Graham

The IEAs NCSE is now in its 16th year as an advisory

committee to the Institution. It draws its members from
the Australian engineering community working in spaceassociated disciplines, and meets twice a year. As well as
its internal advisory charter, the Committee seeks to
promote space technology outside the Institution.
The big event last year, and every year, was the Space
Endeavour Competition which encourages schoolchildren
to design and build devices to fly on Australian Space
Research Institute rockets, during the Institutes firing
campaign held every October at Woomera [SpIN 83]. The
Competition is sponsored by Kistler Aerospace Corporation with support from CSIROs Double Helix Club.
The event has proved so popular, the Institution has now
extended arrangements to accommodate members of the
public wishing to travel to Woomera to view the launches
and to visit the new (and old) rocket launching facilities.
In October last year, three students had their payloads
launched and recovered successfully during a very informative weekend [SpIN 85]. This years Competition is
now underway.
Just before the Woomera visit, in September the Committee co-hosted, with the Australian Chapter of the Royal
Aeronautical Society, the 8th International Aerospace
Congress in Adelaide (incorporating the 12th National
Space Engineering Symposium). Space activities occupied

2 of 5 parallel sessions at the Congress allowing 40 oral

and poster presentations to be given over the 2 days of the
Congress. It was heartening to see the increased interest
and activity in space-related matters on display, and the
organisers are to be congratulated on achieving a landmark event. The next joint Congressin March 2001 in
Canberrais being planned now.
Two Postion Papersthe Importance of a contribution
to Global Environmental Management from Australian
Space Technology, and the Need for an Australian Space
Industry Policyare being updated for ratification by the
Institution as guidelines for the Institutions formal
attitude to space technology.
The Institution is planning to be part of the Australian
representation at the 51st International Astronautical
Congress in Rio de Janiero in October 2000.
It is pleasing to report that Ms Trish GriceSecretary to
the Committee, and organiser of the Space Endeavour
Competition has been invited to attend the International Space Universitys Conference on Bringing
Space into Education in Strasbourg in April, arising from
her experience in working on the Competition.

Space meeting in Australia

Continued from p.1

through activities conducted by 4 Regional Working

Groups. The May meeting of the Space Science and
Technology Applications Working Group will be the first
of these events to be hosted in Australia.
The Working Group meetings are closed to the public
but the Centre is arranging a special open regional
symposium on microsatellites, to be held in Canberra on
22-23 May. The First Announcement and Registration
form is enclosed with this copy of SpIN and is available
via http://www.crcss.csiro.au.

Australian space development conference

The 6th Australian Space Development Conference
will be held in Adelaide from 17-19 July 2000.
Organisers are calling for paper submissions before
14 April.
This will be the sixth in a biennial series of conferences, highlighting the business potential of the
Australasian space industry.
Topics include:
current launch market;

orbital infrastructure;
finance, regulatory and insurance aspects;
geostationary and low Earth orbit systems;

reusable launch vehicles;

commercial remote sensing;
Asian government programs.
Further information:
Tim McEgan
Deputy Conference Chairman
6th Australian Space Development Conference
GPO Box 7048
Sydney, NSW Australia
asdc@nssa.com.au
Ph: 041 357 150

CRCSS Space Industry News