28 April 2014

“Brain transplantation” from over 800 km away is the latest accomplishment of NGC Aerospace, a high-tech SME based in Sherbrooke!

What the company really did was upload a new version of its control software to the satellite PROBA-Vegetation, the 3^rd of the PROBA series in which the company is involved, an uncommon operation in the space industry.

NGC Aerospace included a new safety mode, the Magnetic Mode, which uses the earth’s magnetic field as a means of control. This innovation provides the satellite with a better thermal environment, increased attitude control accuracy, and improved communication with the station.

However, once the necessary tests were finally completed on PROBA-2, first on an experimental basis and then operational, PROBA-V was already in orbit. Therefore, it is only recently that NGC Aerospace, in collaboration with the satellite’s manufacturer, QuinetiQ Space, was able to update the software in outer space.

Launched in May 2013, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) PROBA-V satellite collects data on the earth’s health, climate, and vegetation. PROBA-1, launched in 2001, as well as PROBA-2, launched in 2009, are still in orbit.

Source: NGC Aerospace
Photo courtesy of the European Space Agency

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