Polar Communications Weather PCW Mission December 6

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 2

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-like imagery above 50º N (refresh rate 15 minutes) 24/7 High data rate communication services in Ka-band (X-Band under review) 12 h period 63. 4º Inclination Apogee: ~39, 500 km Perigee: ~550 km 4

Areas of Interest (Ao. I) Meteorological Ao. I: requirement >50º N: will provide Level 1 b and 1 c data that meets quality requirements Communications Ao. I requirement Communications Ao. I Goal Meteorological Ao. I: goal >45º N: will aim to provide Level 1 b and 1 c data that meets quality Image quality requirements met for viewing angles (local zenith angle) >70º Meteo requirements pertain to the entire circumpolar domain 5

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

Comms Services • Seamless 24/7 broadband, two-way connectivity to allow • • • 7 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 Control link − Communications link Potential support to Air Traffic Management (ATM) and E-Navigation. 7

Spacecraft Concept (Core mission) 8

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. 9

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. 10

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 11

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 Frequency Band Minimum Throughput Commercial Ka 57 Mbps Government Ka 20 Mbps Government X 15 Mbps Met Downlink Ka 67 Mbps 13

Carrier & Spectrum Frequency Band Earth to Space to Earth Gov. X Band* 7. 9 – 8. 4 GHz 7. 25 – 7. 75 GHz Commercial Ka Band 29. 5 – 30. 0 GHz 19. 7 – 20. 2 GHz Gov. Ka Band 30. 0 – 31. 0 GHz 20. 2 – 21. 2 GHz Met Downlink (Ka) 200 MHz Bandwidth 26. 15 – 26. 35 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) 14

Communications Architecture MET data transmission User Terminals 0. 6 -2. 4 m Comm Area of Interest Antenna Gateway Station Two Dual Ka & S band Antenna 15

Ground Segment 16

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) 17

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 18

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 19

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. 20