11 March 2016

NGC Aerospace’s technology has once again been successfully put into orbit, this time on the Sentinel-3A Earth observation satellite, launched as part of the European Union’s Copernicus project.

The Sherbrooke SME has developed an altitude and orbit control system that enabled the satellite to navigate autonomously to reach its operational orbit on March 2, 2016, less than two weeks after its launch—a record time!

Orbiting at an approximate altitude of 815 km, Sentinel-3A will provide topographical measurements of the surface of the oceans and seas and the thickness of ice sheets, as well as observations on land masses. The European Space Agency has already received the first images, namely of Norway’s Arctic ice.

Along its trajectory, which will pass over both poles, Sentinel-3A will be able to determine its own position and orientation in space and calculate the manoeuvres required to follow the desired trajectory, while taking into account the measuring instruments onboard and the targets to direct them towards.

In particular, these measurements will be used to monitor sea level variations, marine pollution, vegetation, water quality, forest fires, etc.

“To date, the success rate of all satellite software designed by NGC is 100%,” says Jean de Lafontaine, President.

Source : NGC Aerospace

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