Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) is a 60-kilogram Canadian microsatellite, costing reportedly $11.5M CAD (including launch), that will search for asteroids. Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary is one of two principal scientists for the satellite. This mission has been in concept study and development for many years.
An abstract on the spacecraft indicates the following:
"NEOSSat will be ~50 kg deploying a telescope similar to the 15-cm aperture f5.88 Maksutov on MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars). The spacecraft will be 3-axis stabilized with a pointing precision of ~2 arcseconds in a ~100 second exposure. The NEOSSat mission has completed Phase A with launch currently anticipated in 2009, and will be the first in a series of microsatellites based upon a multi-mission bus concept developed by the Canadian Space Agency in cooperation with Defence Research and Development Canada. The spacecraft will be deployed into a Sun – synchronous orbit similar to that occupied by the MOST spacecraft."
A paper will be given at this year's Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah on this satellite. The Paper is entitled: "NEOSSAT: A Collaborative Microsatellite Project for Space Based Object Detection" by William Harvey (CSA) and Tony Morris (Defense Research and Development Canada).
Link: LPSI Abstract
Link: AIAA Technical Paper
Link: Ottawa Citizen Article
Link: Space.com article (from 25 August 2000)
Link: Small Conference Conference at Utah State University
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