• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured
  • More News ⌄
    • SatNews
    • SatMagazine
    • MilSatMagazine
  • Events ⌄
    • MilSat Symposium
    • SmallSat Symposium
    • Satellite Innovation
  • Contacts
  • SUBSCRIPTION

SmallSat News

You are here: Home / News / Tyvak + Lawrence Livermore National Labs To Produce Smallsat Telescopes

Tyvak + Lawrence Livermore National Labs To Produce Smallsat Telescopes

July 19, 2020 by editorial

A space telescope, dubbed the V4 and an identical twin to this one, flew on LLNL’s GEOstare1 mission, where it was employed to demonstrate the utility of nanosatellites for space situational awareness. Photo by Julie Russell/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. have reached a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to develop innovative compact and robust telescopes for smallsats.

The four-year, $2 million CRADA will combine LLNL’s Monolithic Telescope (MonoTele) technology with Tyvak’s expertise producing high-reliability spacecraft. In the future, the advanced optical imaging payloads may be employed to collect information for remote sensing data users.

The MonoTele consists of a space telescope fabricated from a single, monolithic fused silica slab, allowing the optic lens to operate within tight tolerances. This approach does not require on-orbit alignment, greatly simplifying spacecraft design and favorably affecting spacecraft size, weight and power needs.

Tyvak will provide the spacecraft and payload, consisting of the MonoTele, sensor, and electronics, ensuring survivability in a demanding vibration environment during launch and wide-ranging temperatures on-orbit. LLNL will then apply its knowledge of novel optical payloads to develop, test, and process data gathered from the sensors.

Developed by LLNL over the past eight years, the MonoTele space telescopes range in size from one inch (called the mini-monolith) to 14 inches.

The MonoTele technology provides imaging for nanosatellites, about the size of a large shoebox and weighing less than 22 pounds, and microsatellites, about the size of a dorm refrigerator and weighing up to several hundred pounds.

LLNL researchers undertook the development of the tiny one-inch, mini-monolith for use in star trackers, a component that every satellite has one or more of, and is used to find the satellite’s “attitude” or orientation. Attached to the satellite’s body, the star trackers compare the satellite’s position relative to the position of the stars to determine their orientation.

Typically, space telescopes have two optical mirrors – a larger primary mirror and a smaller secondary mirror – that face each other. If the mirrors go out of alignment, the image becomes fuzzy.

To keep the mirrors in alignment, a metering structure is typically employed to maintain the mirrors in place. But metering structures can be expensive and can go out of alignment.

To solve this problem, LLNL optical scientist Brian Bauman came up with the idea of the MonoTele – replacing the two mirrors and metering structure with one solid piece of glass, with optical shapes and reflective coatings at both ends of the glass.

The MonoTele concept was inspired by the design of the mirrors used for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope that is under construction in Chile, due to come online in 2023 and expected to image some 20 billion galaxies.

Under this CRADA, LLNL and Tyvak expect to develop additional MonoTele-type telescopes capable of operating in other wavelength bands, such as ultraviolet and short-wave infrared, and as a spectrometer instrument.

The telescopes, which would be demonstrated in space, also would feature compact and low-power focus mechanisms for missions requiring agile optics technology.

The MonoTele smallsat imaging payloads can be used across multiple applications and will serve Earth observation, space situational awareness, and satellite navigation initiatives.

Executive Comments

“I’m excited about this technology transitioning from LLNL to space demonstration and eventual commercial use,” said Alex Pertica, the deputy program leader for LLNL’s Space Science and Security Program (SSSP).

“We are delighted to have formalized this collaborative effort with LLNL to demonstrate and commercialize advanced optical imaging technology,” said Anthony Previte, Tyvak’s CEO. “Together, we will enable end users to achieve their mission goals in many space-based markets. Several telescopes with the MonoTele technology have flown in space. They’ve performed very well — the one-inch, mini-monolith version is now flying aboard Tyvak-0129. The technology’s first space mission was the GEOstare satellite, which launched in January 2018.”

“Partnering under a CRADA with outside industry was the natural next step for commercializing the technology,” said David Dawes, Business Development Executive commercializing lasers, optics and radiation detection innovations at LLNL. “We look forward to working with Tyvak. The CRADA gives Tyvak the option to license LLNL intellectual property (IP) or joint IP developed under this collaboration, in addition to any of the Lab’s existing background IP required to practice the subject inventions.”

Tyvak’s standard 6U and 12U nanosatellite production units.

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019

© 2019–2023 SatNews

x
Sign Up Now!

Enjoy a free weekly newsletter with recent headlines from the global SmallSat industry.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing! You will now receive weekly SmallSat News updates.
We love our advertisers.
And you will too!

Please disable Ad Blocker to continue... We promise to keep it unobtrusive.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.