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Space NewsApril 2010 - ESA Conference and Exhibition 13-16 April SELEX Galileo exhibited the Company's Passive Hydrogen Maser (PHM), the atomic clock on board the Galileo constellation satellites, at a conference and exhibition at the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, Holland. During the conference the Company delivered a presentation on 'Space Passive Hydrogen Maser Performances, Lifetime Data and GIOVEB Related Telemetries.'
The forum is organised by the ESA with the aim of gathering together leading specialists and discussing new technologies, as well as the progress of future programmes within the space industry.
SELEX Galileo is supplying the 28 PHMs that will equip the 14 Galileo constellation satellites. In collaboration with Spectra Time, a Swiss space company, the Company will also be developing the Mini MASER, a second generation product funded by ESA for the miniaturisation of the PHM.
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April 2010 - International Space Station (ISS) Payloads Design & Operations Safety Training Course From April 13 to 16, SELEX Galileo's site at Campi Bisenzio hosted a course entitled "ISS payload Design & Operations Safety". The course was organised by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the collaboration of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS).
The course, taught by two experts from NASA, Paul Kirkpatrick, Chairman of the Ground Safety Review Panel, and Larry Gregg, Certified Safety Professional Safety System, was aimed at technical staff in charge of scientific instruments for experiments in microgravity for Space "manned flight" missions.
About 30 delegates attended, coming from the major European aerospace companies.
SELEX Galileo operates in this field with two programmes to do with fluids physics research: FASTER, that will be launched in early 2011, and LIFT, under development phase contract with ASI, Italian Space Agency. Both experiments will take place on board the International Space Station.
Further info available on http://www.spaceskills.net/ - Payload Safety.
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February 2010 - NASA SDO satellite launches into space with SELEX Galileo A-STR sensors installed NASA's Atlas V rocket, launched last week, carried into space the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite. The satellite, which will investigate Solar spots and flares emanating from the Sun, will utilise two of SELEX Galileo's A-STR sensors. The A-STR Star Sensors will keep the satellite and its data-gathering instruments pointed towards the sun with an accuracy of a few thousands of a degree.
A-STR is also part of NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission which monitors and predicts rainfall on a global basis, and the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) which will aid in the design of a lunar outpost by studying the Moon's landscape. In addition, the sensors provided NASA's LCROSS module with the correct orientation for its successful landing on the moon surface where it is currently searching for ice.
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January 2010 - Towards Jupiter, EJSM instrumentation workshop SELEX Galileo recently took part in the third workshop on the instrumentation of the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM). This workshop was held at the European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, Netherlands.
The EJSM, developed as a result of collaboration between ESA and NASA, will involve an initial exploration of the Jupiter system followed by the launch of two satellites; the Jupiter Europa Orbiter and the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter. The EJSM instrumentation on board these two space probes will monitor a number of phenomenon and map the Jupiter magnetosphere and its interaction with the Galileo satellites.
Major themes of the workshop included technical problems, such as the radiative environment and the safety requirements that need particular attention by the suppliers of instrumentation for the EJSM.The event provided a unique opportunity to showcase our expertise in the environmental issues, typical of missions to Jupiter, that we gained thanks to the NASA/ JPL NASA mission, otherwise known as 'JUNO'.
Note: The launch of the JUNO mission is forecast for 2011 and our contribution will include the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) and the stellar attitude sensor.
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June 2009 - Triple Satellite Success The Space Line of Business continues its cosmic success with the launch of three satellites.
The Italian defence telecommunications satellite Sicral 1B, launched in April out in the Pacific Ocean, is equipped with SELEX Galileo power distribution and regulation units; sun and Earth sensors for attitude control; frequency generators; UHF solid state transmitters and travelling-wave transmitters. Components were also provided for two European Space Agency satellites - Herschel and Planck - which were launched on 14 May from French Guiana.
Both satellites, whose mission is to reveal the origins of the universe, are fitted with our photovoltaic units and A-STR star sensors, which are the most accurate on board. SELEX Galileo has also provided the cryogenic amplifiers for the high-frequency instrument, allowing the Planck satellite to study the thermal residue of the Big Bang and the optical elements on the Herschel satellite's wide-band spectrometer. Two more A-STR star sensors, selected by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre for its Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) programme, will be commissioned shortly.
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May 2009 - Smart Sensor Key To 'Space Ferrari' Our Smart Sun Sensor (S3) is a fundamental component of the new European Space Agency (ESA) satellite launched in March to measure the Earth's gravitational field. Dubbed the 'Ferrari of Space', because of its aerodynamic shape, the Gravity Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite travels at an altitude of 250km to map tiny variations in Earth's gravity. The satellite will reveal how oceans circulate heat around the planet to help scientists understand climate change. It will also provide information on sea levels and earthquakes.
Developed by a team in Florence, the S3 device is an attitude control sensor that keeps the satellite pointing precisely at the part of the Earth that is being sampled by measuring its position relative to the sun and providing the data to trim controllers that constantly adjust the position of the satellite. This is the first time that a two-dimensional array detector has been used in Space to measure the sun in two axes. It is also the first use of Active Pixel Sensor (APS) technology for trim sensors in Space.
The S3, a prototype of which has been in operation on the International Space Station since February 2008, will be launched on the SICRAL 1B military communication satellite and also the ESA's Lisa Pathfinder Satellite.
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September 2008 - PHM Clock Pinpoints Accurate Positioning The highly successful in-Space testing of the Giove-B navigational satellite has shown that SELEX Galileo's Passive Hydrogen Maser (PHM) atomic clock is more than fit-for-purpose.
The two-month test, started in April by the European Space Agency, is the PHM's first space flight. The atomic clock is a key component of the Giove-B, a test satellite for the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation programme.
The tests have proven that the PHM is the most stable time reference over a 24-hour period ever produced for a space application. Its stability beats that of the rubidium-type clocks also carried on the Giove-B: The PHM will only lose one second in one million years compared to the rubidium clock, which loses three seconds over the same time. The PHM also has better frequency stability than the rubidium clocks currently used in the US Global Positioning System (GPS) network of satellites and is less affected by environmental factors such as magnetic fields and temperature variations.
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July 2008 - Venus Eye Discovery Unearths Planet's Composition The imaging spectrometer of VIRTIS, developed by SELEX Galileo in Florence and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and installed on-board the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express Space probe, has isolated a molecule called hydroxyl for the first time ever on a planet other than Earth. Hydroxyl, made of an atom of hydrogen and one of oxygen, was detected by the powerful 'eye' of the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS). Mapping the distribution and concentration of these chemicals will provide a better understanding of the chemical and heating processes in the atmosphere of the Earth.
VIRTIS succeeded in detecting hydroxyl because of the slight infrared emission produced by the chemical reaction between the hydrogen and ozone atoms. This discovery will allow ESA scientists to study the chemical composition and the attitude of the atmosphere on Venus. VIRTIS has already significantly contributed to knowledge of Venus's atmosphere around its south pole and to the luminescence and fluorescence of the outer atmosphere of the planet.
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May 2008 - Our Mission: Working Together in Space The dawn of SELEX Galileo's activities in Space date back to the 1960s, when the Space race was in full swing. Since then, SELEX Galileo has participated in more than 100 Space programmes. Our achievements in Space technologies have contributed to the success of some of the most important Italian Space Agency (ASI), European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA programmes. The most recent was in April with the mooring of the Automated Transfer Vehicle to the International Space Station (ISS). This innovative module will be the main supply and orbit control system of the ISS.
There have been more than 300 SELEX Galileo sensors launched into Space, with most of them still operating on scientific and telecommunications satellites, and thanks to SELEX Galileo's Photo Voltaic Assembly technology, there are more than 100,000 solar cells in orbit. SELEX Galileo has also supplied hyperspectral cameras to support three current Space exploration missions: ROSSETTA, VENUS Express and DAWN for missions to comets, planets and asteroids respectively.
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