The nanosatellite, known as Little Innovator in Space Situational Awareness (LISSA), will be integrated with the Redwing satellite and will be deployed from Redwing sometime after launch, once the two spacecraft have achieved an orbit at the designated altitude.

The Associated Press: Microsatellite Project to Monitor Objects in Space Over Canada, South Pole

October 10, 2024 —

An exciting new satellite project to monitor and protect the Earth’s orbital environment is underway. University of Manitoba (UM) and Magellan Aerospace (Magellan), in collaboration with Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) science and technology organization, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), and the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), are working together to make it a reality.

“With new launch companies providing unprecedented access to space, we need to research and develop new ways of monitoring space objects from small spacecraft to prevent collisions and to maintain space sustainability for the entire planet. This is a challenge of global scale, requiring international collaboration between industry and academia,” says Philip Ferguson, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and lead of UM’s Space Technology and Advanced Research Laboratory (STARLab).

To read the full story, please visit The Associated Press.

Canada’s Department of National Defence, Magellan, mechanical engineering, Philip Ferguson, Space Technology and Advanced Research Learning, STARLab, United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory