STPSat-2 was released at an altitude of 400 miles from a Minotaur 4 rocket and placed into a polar orbit. At 10:45 PM GMT the spacecraft’s primary payload radioed back to Earth through a ground station in Hawaii that its solar panels had been extended and that it was operating normally.

The heart of the STPSat-2 attitude control system is three of MSCI’s MW 1000 Reaction Wheels.

The STP S26 mission is being conducted by the United States Air Force Space Test Program, the military's research and development wing responsible for flight opportunities for emerging technologies. STPSat-2 is the second spacecraft in the Space Test Program Standard Interface Vehicle (STP-SIV) program. Col. Michael Moran is the mission director for this launch.

"Since 1965, the Space Test Program has been an invaluable service to our nation by flying science and technology payloads that are fundamental to the DOD's approach to space acquisition and to the advancement of our nation's space capabilities," Moran said. "Extraordinary military capabilities, such as military satellite communications and the Global Positioning System, can trace their development back to earlier Space Test Program missions. Enabling technologies for those systems were incrementally demonstrated in the space environment by the spaceflight opportunities provided by STP.ⁱ”

Picture courtesy of ballaerospace.com

MSCI worked with attitude control system lead Comtech AeroAstro to provide the three (3) MW 1000 Reaction Wheels to STPSat-2 prime contractor Ball Aerospace in 2008.

“The Space Test Program’s Standard Interface Vehicle (STP-SIV) project has developed a common spacecraft bus with a standard payload interface to accelerate Department of Defense space technology and ensure future U.S. space superiority.ⁱⁱ” says Ball Aerospace

“Payload teams are able to design payloads and specific experiments to be compatible with the flexible standardized vehicle, resulting in lower spacecraft non-recurring costs and increased spaceflight opportunities. By providing such a vehicle, the Space Test Program can shorten acquisition timelines and decrease spacecraft build.ⁱⁱⁱ”

Although MSCI has provided Reaction Wheels to customers around the world for a number of years, this was the first program with a USAF spacecraft since the TACSAT2 mission to carry MW 1000’s.

Since this STPSat-2 mission, MSCI has also delivered an additional three (3) Reaction Wheels for the STPSat-3 mission.

“The STP program and our close relationship with Ball Aerospace are very important to us,” states David R. Cooper, MSCI’s President and CEO. “Our trusted position on Ball’s STP standardized bus team provides additional validation of the industry’s confidence in MSCI’s Reaction Wheels, a position we value and must continue to earn with each new contract. Our congratulations to David Kaufman and the entire Ball Aerospace team.”

About MSCI
MSCI is Canada’s leader in the design, development and delivery of cost-effective microsatellites, and the developer of Canada’s Multi Mission Microsatellite Bus technology (MMMB), capable of hosting a wide variety of remote sensing, communications, scientific and military payloads. MSCI also has proven capabilities in systems engineering analysis, the development of sophisticated, cost-effective Reaction Wheel attitude control systems solutions and their implementation into flight hardware and software.

Formerly the Space Division of Dynacon Inc., MSCI has been the premiere builder of microsatellites in Canada for over a decade. MSCI provides military and civil space agencies, as well as commercial markets, with space technology that enables space exploration and surveillance of Earth from space and other services for commercial applications. Additional information about MSCI can be found at www.mscinc.ca. Additional information about MSCI’s MicroWheel (reaction wheel) attitude control systems can be found at www.reactionwheel.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Justin Phillips
Vice President, Marketing
Microsat Systems Canada Inc. (MSCI)
(647) 285-0442
justin.phillips@mscinc.ca