Viewpoint 1

Viewpoint 1 [SpaceFab.US]

SpaceFab.US is developing the Viewpoint space telescope satellite, which can also be employed for earth observation.

The project replaces SpaceFab.US' earlier Waypoint 1 Cubesat project. Waypoint is a 150kg smallsat featuring electric propulsion.

SpaceFab.US is building the Waypoint space telescope with a 50 centimeter mirror- This commercial telescope will have an image intensified ultraviolet and visible camera, and a 48 megapixel camera for visible and near-infrared imaging for astronomical and Earth observation purposes, available for use by customers around the world. The telescope is a Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope . It features a 50 cm silicon carbide primary mirror and a deployable secondary mirror. The instruments for astronomy are a 48 Megapixel imager for visible and near-infrared wavelengths and a 10 Megapixel imager for ultraviolet and visible. For earth observation, it has a 150 band hyper-spectral imager with a resolution as high as 3 meter for use in scientific and commercial applications. These applications include efficient farming, mineral and geological surveys, environmental studies, climate change, disaster relief, oil spills, animal migrations, monitor urban growth and more.

The satellite uses Globalstar for commands and telemetry, while the data is transferred via an optical uplink and downlink during multiple passes per day. The optical error corrected data transfers at 100 Mb/s.