Contributions awarded under the STDP – AO 4

Directing intelligent efforts in the fight against climate change demands more and more accurate climate critical data. 

Calibration blackbodies in infrared Earth observation instruments help ensure the accuracy of radiometric measurements, which can be used to reveal changes over time in our atmosphere and landscape. This project will evaluate and validate two new technologies that could greatly improve the radiometric accuracy of calibration blackbodies.

Future exploration of our solar system will require continuous innovation and improvements to in-space propulsion.

Located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Aethera Technologies is developing critical technology for advanced in-space electric propulsion. Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR®) technology has extremely low fuel consumption and much higher performance when compared with conventional chemical propulsion or other electric rockets. The technology offers economic and operational advantages in space commerce, including satellite deployment, re-boost services, refurbishment, and end-of-life disposal. This technology advances humanity's evolution beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) and significantly contributes to the world's technology base for the exploration of space. Leveraging Aethera's expertise in the field of High-Power Radio Frequency systems, the project focuses on the development of Radio Frequency Power Processing Units with extremely high electrical energy conversion efficiencies and mass density.

Advances in satellite transmission technology mean that customers transmit over a much broader spectrum of frequencies than they did 30 years ago. Current amplifiers, designed for a smaller range, struggle with deteriorating signals which affects service for customers. 

Advantech Wireless will address that problem through a method of signal correction and a power amplifier module. This design has transferrable applications and could provide an alternative to technologies in other markets that are currently insulated from competition.

Micro and nano-class missions are expected to play an increasingly important role in future space exploration as they offer quick and inexpensive ways to supplement and augment larger international and commercial missions. Despite their small size and budget, they must still be able to provide meaningful exploration capabilities in terms of payload capacity, mobility, survivability, communications with Earth, etc.

Canadensys aims to develop nano-class multi-mission platform technology in support of future lunar and planetary surface exploration, with a small mobile system as a driving case. Structural, thermal and mechatronics elements of a small rover that can deliver meaningful surface capabilities in a nano-class package, while supporting a range of different functions and payloads over the course of multiple lunar or Martian day/night cycles, are the focus of this development.

LEO satellite constellations currently under development will require the use of high-speed optical inter-satellite links to move vast amounts of data within the satellite mesh. To achieve this, satellite optical terminals will need to have precision acquisition and tracking capability to establish and maintain the tightly focused optical communications links.

COM DEV will develop the OPTRAC system to provide the necessary fine pointing, tracking, point-ahead and optical fibre coupling to receive and transmit communication signals between optical terminals.

Mass and size have always been design drivers for space applications. Launch costs and a continuous drive towards increased on-orbit capability mean that a significant premium is placed on any reduction in mass and/or volume of a product.

COM DEV will develop a new output network targeting a 30% reduction in mass and size. The output network is a collection of hardware utilized for recombining high-power amplified signals into a uniform beam for broadcast back to Earth. This proposed miniaturized output network will introduce novel designs, new materials and processes, and streamlined manufacturability for schedule and cost.

The use of electric orbit raising, instead of chemical propulsion, after launch and separation of the satellite from the launcher to reach the geostationary orbit allows reducing propellant mass, and therefore increasing the maximum allowable spacecraft dry mass. However, today's existing electric propulsion pointing systems are limited in their degrees of freedom and are available at a high price.

MDA will develop the TSM, allowing an intensive and efficient use of electric propulsion on telecommunications satellites, both for the orbit-raising phase and the station-keeping manoeuvres. The TSM is a very versatile system, able to re-point thrusters continuously during multiple years of in-orbit life, and benefits from past developments of actuators qualified for constellation missions' antennas.

The C&DH unit is a satellite's control centre, providing the spacecraft platform with control and monitoring of all subsystems. With the increase in demand for smaller platforms and constellations, more compact and capable C&DH units are required. As a result, a significant amount of innovation is needed to combine all of the necessary functions into a smaller, more compact unit.

MDA will develop new portions of the C&DH unit, while creating innovative methods to reduce mass, power, cost, and resource utilization, and maximizing performance, reliability and flexibility.

At present, communication satellites rely on radio frequencies to relay data, which transmit at a much slower speed than terrestrial optical fibre links. Areas of Earth where optical fibre connectivity is prohibitively expensive or impractical rely on communications satellites to connect to the Internet, putting them at a disadvantage compared to urban areas.

MPB Communications will design and qualify a family of innovative optical amplifiers for space-borne laser communication terminals (LCTs). Advances in LCTs will enable remote regions to enjoy the same Internet connectivity as metropolitan areas. This will enable improved monitoring and protection of these regions, especially in the areas of environmental observation, weather forecasting, and climate change surveillance.

A light detection and ranging (lidar) 3D imaging sensor uses lasers to produce representations of an environment or object. Lidar is crucial for robotic navigation technologies. A small, low-cost, lighting-immune 3D sensor is highly desired for potential future planetary rover missions.

Neptec is proposing the development of a next-generation miniaturized lidar platform which addresses customer needs and future trends in both terrestrial and space markets. This will be accomplished through the manufacture and testing of two mini lidar prototypes, one focusing on performance and readiness for flight, and the other prioritizing miniaturization over performance. These projects will leverage Neptec's experience and expertise in developing lidar systems for space, using the successful TriDAR as a foundation for the proposed architecture.

Computer processors have increased in power dramatically over the last several years. This means that processing functions that used to require dedicated hardware can now be handled by much simpler hardware, such as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) found in a typical general-purpose computer.

Square Peg Communications will adapt signal processing operations fundamental to satellite communications so that they no longer require specialized hardware. This approach will allow for a less costly and complex system, greatly increase system capacity, and avoid obsolescence for the foreseeable future. 

Light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors are essential tools used for a variety of tasks such as terrestrial topographic mapping, navigation and docking in space, and landings on planets or asteroids.

Teledyne has proposed to develop a compact array sensor. The improved lidar system will reduce the size and weight of the equipment, while increasing the range, coverage rate, and resolution of mapping technologies.

Recent advancements in actuators, sensor technology, and virtual reality (VR) systems are allowing researchers to make significant strides to improve the dexterity and speed of robotic manipulators. Despite this, substantial opportunity remains to improve control interfaces and manipulators that are slow, unintuitive, and significantly less dextrous than the human body.

Averro Robotics and Technology will develop an intuitive, easy-to-wear control interface for manipulating dual robotic arms. The control interface will provide haptic feedback to the operator and allow for the robot's "vision" to be experienced using VR, providing an unparalleled sense of immersion and depth perception for the operator. This technology will significantly improve operator safety in several environments including space exploration, spacecraft repair, explosive ordinance disposal, military operations, offshore and underwater environments, confined spaces, and other hazardous locations. This revolutionary, immersive technology is expected to allow remote tasks to be accomplished faster, more safely, and with less user training than other systems.

Radiation prediction, monitoring, and protection technologies are a key part of all space missions. The construction of radiation detectors for long-duration exploration missions presents particular challenges because of stringent size, weight and power requirements.

The proposed work aims to assess silicon photomultipliers as an enabling technology for miniaturized radiation spectrometers. These silicon devices have the potential to replace traditional, bulky photomultiplier tubes, significantly reducing the size and power consumption of radiation-detection instrumentation with little or no loss of performance when compared to traditional photomultiplier tubes. Potential applications of this technology include exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, stratospheric balloon flights, and small satellite missions, as well as use in terrestrial fields such as homeland security, law enforcement and health physics.

With advances in miniaturization of electronics, new materials and new manufacturing methods, significant space missions that were once the exclusive domain of large spacecraft can now be performed using spacecraft that are one-tenth the size. One factor still limits the types of missions that these new small and nimbler spacecraft can perform: the lack of significant propulsion that is safe, affordable and easy to integrate.

Continuum Aerospace, with partners Canadore College and the University of Waterloo, are leveraging expertise in new rocket propulsion technologies, direct metal laser sintering 3D printing, and enhanced computational modelling to develop a new thruster system using non-toxic, easy-to-handle propellants which is small enough to fit these smaller spacecraft designs. This thruster system will be the first of its kind in Canada, and will provide Canadian spacecraft designers and mission planners with the ability to undertake new types of missions at a lower cost with enhanced thrust.

Earth's magnetosphere contains ionized particles that can cause damage to electrical systems in spacecraft.

DPL Science has developed the Dielectric Deep Charge Monitor (DDCM) to warn of possible deep charging in spacecraft. This project aims to develop multiple sample measurement capabilities in the DDCM and to allow the DDCM to be incorporated into radiation monitoring suites. This project will also work to upgrade DPL Science's Spacecraft Power Module to withstand radiation encountered between 2,000 km and 35,786 km from Earth's equator, which will greatly increase potential applications for the module.

Actuators transform electrical energy into mechanical energy to move and control mobile devices. Magnetorheological (MR) actuation is a unique technology with exceptional dynamic performance thanks to the MR fluid's viscosity that increases when exposed to a magnetic field, almost to the point of becoming solid. Actuators using MR fluids present characteristics making them very interesting for use in space compared to other types of actuators: increased performance, lower mass and more safety when used for applications involving human-robot interactions.

Exonetik proposes to study the feasibility of using MR actuators in inhabited space environments for future space missions. More specifically, the work will consist in assessing the most critical risks of using MR actuators in space environments: launch vibrations, in-use outgassing, and safety of use. The biggest technological unknown lies around outgassing. Conventional off-the-shelf MR fluids use hydrocarbon-based oils and are known to outgas significantly in some operating conditions. The working hypothesis is that a custom formulation designed specifically for low outgassing, and involving perfluoropolyether (PFPE), would perform well in a space environment.

Inertial navigation is a technology that allows vehicles to determine how their position has changed over time, without needing to use outside resources (such as GPS). Currently, spacecraft operators must rely on external references such as radio tracking for navigation, but a method of autonomous navigation is highly desired for situations where ground-based communications are not possible.

However, all current inertial navigation instruments suffer from an unavoidable drifting bias, causing a position error in the navigation solution which grows rapidly with time. The inaccuracy grows after a few hours to a level that is unacceptable for most space flight applications, especially for long-term exploration-class missions to other planets. Recently, Gedex developed a method using a pair of gimballed accelerometers that completely eliminates the drifting bias, slowing down the degradation of the navigation solution to the point where it can be useable for weeks or months. This revolutionary capability has immediate applications for asteroid exploration and long-duration, low-thrust space flight to other planets, and eventual applications for planetary rover exploration.

Companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint often struggle to accurately measure their emissions. GHGSat developed a technology that measures gas emissions from industrial facilities from space. In 2016, GHGSat successfully launched its first nanosatellite and is now looking to expand and launch two more nanosatellites.

GHGSat will partner with Sinclair Interplanetary and Xiphos System Corporation to demonstrate the Darkstar-Q8 optical downlink system, which is expected to improve the downlink capacity of GHGSat's satellites, thus enabling monitoring capacity up to 10 times more than its current system, providing more greenhouse gas measurement opportunities for industrial facilities around the world, and reducing GHGSat's cost per measurement. 

The Space Surveillance Network (SSN) measures the movement of space objects over time, producing time-series data sets called Two-Line Elements (TLEs).

The proposed project is to design, develop and integrate advanced machine learning and data analytics methodologies to automatically examine TLE data and detect novel or anomalous trends. These advanced methodologies will also be capable of identifying the root cause of any anomalies as due to either erroneous satellite tracking data or out-of-character space object behaviour. This technology will enhance the know-how and capabilities of satellite operators and designers, as well as lead to new concepts advancing space situational awareness and satellite monitoring.

Hyperspectral imaging, which processes the electromagnetic properties of each pixel in the frame of an image, can be used to identify the materials that make up a scanned object or environment. Air and space-borne hyperspectral instruments, which often use Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor arrays, are fundamental to Earth observation processes.

ITRES Research proposes to design a high-performance CMOS sensor array with 3,000 across-track pixels, twice the size of current state-of-the-art CMOS focal plane arrays (FPAs). Earth observation payload designs currently require two CMOS FPAs to achieve the required across-track swath. This project initiates the development of a CMOS FPA that can meet the same performance criteria as current FPAs, while also meeting the spatial swath needs of Canada's Earth observation community.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the intersection of sensors, connectivity, and powerful data analytics used to collect and exchange data for various purposes, including business decisions. For industries with global operations – such as shipping and logistics, natural resource exploration, or transportation – the high cost of satellite connectivity prevents IoT solutions from being deployed and providing economic and business improvements.

Kepler will develop low-cost antenna technology for satellite communications. This technology will enable mobile communications with a low-cost satellite network, and facilitate connectivity for millions of IoT devices.

Launching satellites is an expensive and unreliable process, yet demand for microsat launch services increases year after year.

Reaction Dynamics is pioneering a revolutionary, inherently safe type of propulsion system. This technology demonstration aims to develop the competencies necessary to use hybrid rocket engines in launch vehicles, and build and operate launch vehicles reliably. Additionally, other systems for supporting space launch operations, such as ground infrastructure, supply chains, avionics and communication systems, will be developed. Within this proposal, Reaction Dynamics hopes to launch the flight demonstration vehicle to an altitude of at least 100 km by early to mid-2020. Starting as early as 2023, the company aims to jump-start an orbital satellite launch service in Canada, targeting the emerging market of CubeSats, microsats as well as Earth observation missions.

This project will develop a prototype synthetic cognitive decision support system for medical diagnostics during space flight, and will involve an initial validation of that system.

The proposed Synthetic Intelligence for Medical Assessment and Treatment (SIMAT) will simulate human cognitive diagnosis through the application of decision algorithms, statistical analysis, pattern recognition, and machine learning. Once fully developed, it will assist Crew Medical Officers in analyzing an ailing crewmember's medical symptoms and forming diagnoses. This technology will be critical for future long-duration, exploration-class missions where communication with Earth is delayed due to the vast distances involved. It will also support medical operations when communication with Mission Control is interrupted, or in circumstances where a medically trained astronaut is unavailable or unable to respond.

In 2003, NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, began exploring the surface of the red planet. While both rovers performed for longer than expected, Spirit's mission ended in 2009 when the rover became stuck in a soft patch of soil. Rovers can autonomously detect and avoid rocks and other obstacles with ease, but detecting soft soil hazards remains a challenge for rover operators. While Opportunity is still operating, it has lost mission time while stuck in soft soil patches.

The Autonomous Soil Assessment System 2.0 (ASAS), building upon previous work by Mission Control Space Services, will improve rovers' ability to navigate through unknown environments by detecting a much broader variety of terrains and hazard types through the use of artificial intelligence, and specifically deep learning techniques. ASAS can be employed to improve mission safety and efficiency in two ways: by running on ground station computers to help rover operators plan safe routes, or by operating in real time as a software payload onboard the rover to increase its autonomy by allowing it to handle hazard detection automatically.

Current path planning systems for NASA's Mars rovers require extensive human input that can lead to wasted mission operations, due to communication delays and time-consuming manual analysis of data gathered from orbit and the rover.

The IPP allows for heterogeneous data sets to be aggregated in real time, enabling rovers to learn as they drive. The IPP uses the information it has gathered to influence the path it plans, while also adapting the path based on the terrain encountered. Machine learning teaches the IPP to associate different terrains with performance levels. The IPP is targeted as a software upgrade to improve the efficiency, safety and scientific return of rover missions without the need for specialized sensors.

Space-based laser communication technologies offer significant reductions in size, mass and power compared to other space-based telecommunications technology, while increasing the capacity for high-speed, data-rich transmissions. This means that incredibly data-intensive payloads can be flown on even smaller spacecraft.

Neptec will develop a prototype of a low-Earth-orbit-to-ground optical communication pointing and tracking subsystem. The prototype will provide critical insight into technical unknowns required to develop future designs for the spacecraft needing an optical communications system (called a space optical terminal) and for future Canadian Space Agency science satellite projects.

Electron-Multiplying Charge-coupled Devices (EMCCD) are good for capturing high-resolution images in very dark environments.

Nüvü Caméras aims to develop a wide-field EMCCD camera that is capable of capturing larger images than standard EMCCD cameras. This technology will allow for EMCCD imaging to be used for a greater number of applications that require wide-field imaging, such as the detection of space debris that threatens satellites orbiting Earth.

Tracking, Telemetry and Control (TT&C) systems monitor satellite functionality, determine the satellite's location and control the satellite's behaviour. It is a required technology on all satellites, regardless of their application. As the market for communications satellites grows, regulators of the operating frequency bands have encountered challenges regarding the range of the usable band spectrum for navigation, communication, and Earth observation payloads.

Orbital Research will develop a TT&C receiver for partner Tethers Unlimited, to be integrated into that company's TT&C system. The receiver will operate in a new frequency band, outside the commercially available range. In addition to the new band, the Orbital Research receiver will be much smaller than comparable receivers and hardened for use in space, making the receiver ideal for small satellites.

Aerospace designers often use software that simulates complex electronic systems to evaluate the performance of different architectures and to refine software and hardware early in the development stage.

Heterogeneous computing systems (systems using more than one type of processor) offer advantages over homogenous systems in terms of speed and agility in processing, but aerospace simulation software has not yet been designed for computing systems with more than one processor. Space Codesign Systems proposes to develop a heterogeneous computing platform which will allow aerospace designers to more easily and efficiently design models of complex electronic systems, including those with embedded systems.

The Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation developed an Image-Guided Automated Robot (IGAR) designed to carry out automated, preplanned, imaging-technology-guided surgical procedures. IGAR's medical procedures have proven to be equivalent in precision, comfort, and time with less pain and better cosmetic outcomes than the standard manual procedure.

This feasibility study proposes to merge IGAR with the IBM Watson Cognitive Computing System, allowing Watson to plan and control the execution of IGAR's surgical tasks. This will be the first demonstration of a fully autonomous medical robotic system in the world. This technology would be vitally important to the future of human space exploration and colonization, as well as improve quality and access to health care on Earth.

The OneWeb satellite constellation will bring affordable broadband Internet access to the world. The satellites are expected to spend five years in operation before deorbiting using internal propulsion systems. 

MDA will collaborate with OneWeb to conduct a feasibility study identifying a cost-effective design for an Active Debris Removal (ADR) system using flight-proven, robotic capture technology. This capacity will be an important development for the safety of satellite operations and the reduction of debris orbiting Earth.

There are around 20,000 human-made Resident Space Objects (RSOs) in orbit around Earth. This includes functioning satellites, as well as non-functional pieces of debris, and these numbers are continuing to rise. It is important to track the location of RSOs in order to prevent potential collisions and damage to functioning satellites. Currently, only small portions of the sky can be monitored by space-based RSO detectors, and Earth-based detectors are limited by cloud cover and daylight cycles.

Magellan Aerospace proposes to adapt commercial star trackers, a type of sensor used for high-accuracy pointing in satellites, to detect and track RSOs. Using star trackers is an attractive solution, since almost every satellite in orbit could contribute to the RSO database using existing onboard hardware with no interruption to the satellite's main mission. This technology would greatly enrich the RSO monitoring database and can lead to reduced incidence of RSO collisions through improved monitoring and early warnings.

Ensuring that all parts of a spacecraft remain within acceptable temperature limits is one of the keys to a successful space mission. This involves comprehensive thermal analysis of each unit and the overall system. However, it is impractical to include detailed models of every unit in a system model, so engineers must often supply a reduced thermal model for system-level analysis.

This project plans to use machine-learning methods to create reduced models. A computer will be used to analyze various options and select the most appropriate reduced model for the component and environment. A machine-accurate, reduced thermal model will allow for rapid operational decisions to be made with greater confidence. This would be especially beneficial for a rover on the surface of the Moon or Mars, where the environmental threats are continually evolving.

Understanding how physiological signals behave in extreme conditions could lead to monitoring systems that would improve the health and safety of astronauts during future long-duration exploration-class missions. A wearable monitoring system would serve as a constant diagnostic tool that could detect meaningful physiological changes and inform the user.

The objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of developing a wearable monitoring platform for extreme environments and to collect a physiological data set to form a baseline for a broad array of contexts. The development of such monitoring technologies would not only change how the space domain deals with the health and safety of astronauts, but could also transform sectors on Earth such as medical care, defence and aviation.