Polar Communications & Weather (PCW)

Mission

December 6, 2010

Guennadi Kroupnik, Martin Hebert

CSA

Outline

• Introduction• Mission overview• System level trade-offs• Meteorological payload considerations• Communications payload considerations• Project status• Challenges and Opportunities • Conclusion

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Mission Objectives

• Reliable communications services in the high latitudes (North of 70º) to ensure:

–Security

–Sustainable Development

–Support to Northern Communities

–Safety of the Air and Marine Navigation

–Arctic Science

• Provide high temporal/spatial resolution meteorological data above 50º N in support of:

–Numerical Weather Prediction (short to medium range)

–Environmental monitoring, emergency response

–Climate change monitoring

• Space weather monitoring 3

Mission Overview

2 satellites in HEO to provide:

Continuous GEO-likeimagery above 50º N(refresh rate 15 minutes)

24/7 High data rate communication services in Ka-band (X-Band under review)

12h period63.4º Inclination

Apogee: ~39,500 kmPerigee: ~550 km

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Areas of Interest (AoI)

Meteo requirements pertain to the entire circumpolar domain

Meteorological AoI: requirement >50º N: will provide Level 1b and 1c data that meets quality requirements

Meteorological AoI: goal >45º N: will aim to provide Level 1b and 1c data that meets quality

Communications AoI requirement

Communications AoI Goal

Image quality requirements met for viewing angles (local zenith angle) >70º

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Met Products and Services

• Winds from sequences of images: high priority product,• Surface type analysis: ice, snow, ocean, vegetation and surface

characteristics such as emissivity, albedo, vegetation index,• Surface temperature, detection of boundary-layer temperature

inversions, diurnal cycle,• Mid-tropospheric humidity/temperature sensitive channels for

hourly direct assimilation complementing GEO radiance assimilation,

• Volcanic ash detection,• Smoke, dusts, aerosols, fog in support of air quality models and

environmental prediction,• Total column ozone,• Cloud parameters: height, fraction, temperature, emissivity, phase,

effective particle size.6

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• Seamless 24/7 broadband, two-way connectivity to allow uninterrupted data (IP) transfer, as well as video-conferencing and imagery transfer, including entertainment content.

• Support to science, resource exploration and exploitation activities, and Search and Rescue operations.

• Interoperability with existing communications services.• Support to icebreakers and marine navigation in the Arctic.• UAV Missions:

− Command and Control link− Communications link

• Potential support to Air Traffic Management (ATM) and E-Navigation.

Comms Services

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Spacecraft Concept (Core mission)

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System Level Trade-offs

Phase-A trades-off analyses:• Image Navigation and Registration (INR) Analysis, • PCW Communication Payload (PCP) Beam Pointing Analysis,• Increased Imaging Operations Analysis, • Constellation and Orbit Definition Trade-Off, • Payload and TTC Downlink Trade-Off, • PCW Met Payload Data Downlink and Transfer Trade-Off, • User terminal (UT) performance versus Space Segment

Analyses, • User Terminal Design and Performance Analysis, and• Communications Network Topology Analysis.

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Payloads

Core mission:• Ka – band 2-way High Data Rate communications payload

(up to 12 Mb/sec), • Addition of X-band is being evaluated,• Imaging Spectroradiometer (20 channels, 0.5-1 km VIS, 2

km IR),• Space weather suit of instruments.

Enhanced mission (under evaluation):• Scientific meteorological or space environment instrument

(4 PHEMOS Phase 0 studies),• GNSS augmentation payload (provided by ESA),• Air Traffic Management (ATM) payload (provided by ESA),• Technology demonstration.

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PCW Met Payload

• Phase A Baseline design (COM DEV-ABB) meets performance requirements but requires ~ 10 years of development

• Options analyses: – RFI: ITT. Raytheon, Thales, and Astrium

– Canadian Concepts: COM DEV and ABB

• Outcomes of options analyses:– Validated payload performance requirements

– Possible path to launch in 2017 based on low NRE approach

• IR detectors cooled by a mechanical cooler,– Cooler attached to the S/C

Communications Payload

• X-band, commercial Ka-band, and government Ka-band planned.• Ka-band is also to support downlink for met data.• Ka-band Forward Link: 4 commercial channels + 4 government

channels. • Ka-band Return Link: 1 commercial channels + 1 government

channel + 1 mesh channel.• Ka-band coverage area to be served by 4 user beams and one

gateway beam.• X-band coverage area to consist of one user beam with re-use of

Ka-band gateway beam.

Canadian Comms Requirements

Commercial Ka

Frequency Band Minimum Throughput

57 Mbps

Government Ka

15 Mbps

20 Mbps

Government X

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67 MbpsMet Downlink Ka

Carrier & Spectrum

Frequency Band Earth to Space Space to Earth

Gov. X Band*

Commercial Ka Band

Gov. Ka Band

7.9 – 8.4 GHz 7.25 – 7.75 GHz

29.5 – 30.0 GHz 19.7 – 20.2 GHz

30.0 – 31.0 GHz 20.2 – 21.2 GHz

* The following restrictions apply to the X-band:         Mobile Applications:         7250 - 7300 MHz (downlink)         7975 - 8025 MHz (uplink)     Fixed Applications:         7300 - 7750 MHz (downlink)         7900 - 7975 MHz and 8025 - 8400 MHz (uplink)

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Met Downlink (Ka) 26.15 – 26.35 GHz200 MHz Bandwidth

Communications Architecture

Comm Area of Interest

Gateway StationTwo Dual Ka & S band Antenna

User Terminals0.6-2.4 m Antenna

MET data transmission

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Ground Segment

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Project Status

• Phase 0 completed: September 2008• Phase A Approved: November 2008

• Phase A contract awarded: July 2009• Phase A Major Milestones:

– Phase A kicked-off: July 2009– Technology Readiness Assessment Review: October 2009

– Mission Requirements Review: February 2010– Preliminary System Requirements Review: June, 2010– Met Payload Options Analyses: November 2010

– Phase A contract close out: March 2011• Critical Technologies development contracts award: March 2011

• Phase B/C/D contract award: June 2012 (TBC)• Launches: 2017 (TBC)

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Challenges

• Sever radiation environment• Complex thermal management• Spacecraft life limited by the environment• Potential significant orbit perturbations caused by 3 body interaction• Significant upfront investments• Up to 40 month lead time for the components of the Met Payload• Applications development

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Opportunities

• Orbit design (f.e. a modified Tundra Orbit)• “Make or buy” trade-offs• Business model:

– Major Crown Project vs. PPP

– Canadian mission vs. International Partnership:

• Launch

• Met Payload

• Ground Segment

• Systems and subsystems of the spacecraft

• Applications algorithms and products

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Conclusion

• PCW represents an exciting opportunity to close the gap in global broadband communication services and meteorological observation coverage in the Arctic.

• PCW is an engine for development of new technologies, applications and capabilities.

• The mission is open for international collaboration. Interesting opportunities have been identified and actively pursued.

• The Phase A outcomes clearly demonstrate merits of the PCW mission for Canada and in the international context.

• The technical feasibility of the PCW system is well established.

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