NESS: Using a Microsatellite to Search For and Track Satellites and Asteroids

摘要

The Near Earth Space Surveillance (NESS) mission is being developed by Dynacon and a team of asteroid scientists, supported by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND). NESS uses a single satellite to perform a dual mission: searching for an tracking Earth-approaching asteroids, and tracking satellites in Earth orbit. There are aspects of both of these activities that are best accomplished using an orbiting observatory. The concept presented here is to implement NESS using a small imaging telescope mounted on a lowcost microsatellite-class platform, based on the design developed for the MOST stellar photometry microsatellite mission.