The CANEUS organization in collaboration with the Aerospace Corporation is pleased to invite global participation at the international Small Satellite Workshop, to be held in El Segundo, California, January 31 and February 1, 2008.

Standards Development: The CANEUS-sponsored Small Satellite Workshop will focus on addressing the need for common global standards for small satellite systems. The predominant standard for high-speed links and networks for use onboard spacecraft is the SpaceWire standard. The Small Satellite Workshop will begin with talks by key experts on the need to reduce the SpaceWire Plug and Play (PnP) overhead to a bare minimum, in order to achieve a basic level of common functionality. Confirmed speakers include, among others, representatives from the US ORS, USAF, and an ESA SpaceWire expert describing recent developments in Remote Memory Access Protocol (RMAP) and PnP. The talks will be followed by discussions soliciting input from CANEUS SSWG members representing the US, Canada, Europe, Brazil, Japan and Israel. These focused break out session discussions will help identify the needs and goals of respective organizations from participating nation.

Standardized Small Satellite Platforms: An important goal of the CANEUS SSWG is to mitigate risk by pooling the financial resources and developments from several countries to rapidly gain acceptance for small satellites as a viable space mission platform. In order to achieve this important objective, the CANEUS SSWG provides the forum for leading space agencies, large prime contractors as well as small and medium sized industries, academic institutions to present their particular small satellite visions and needs. The CANEUS SSWG is also in a unique position to attract flight opportunities from various launch providers and space agencies. The ultimate outcome of the Small Satellite Workshop discussions will be to reconcile these various requirements and ensure that they culminate in the development of a standardized small satellite platform or set of platforms, that is acceptable both system developers and system integrators alike.   

Small Satellite Missions: Participants at the Small Satellite Workshop will work actively towards defining the road map for future small satellite missions.  Among the precursor flights to be considered prior to the establishment of a standardized small satellite platform are the following:

1. Flight of an in-space test bed for various applicable small satellite standards including rapid assembly and PnP interoperability for components and sub-systems acquired from several manufacturers around the world.
2. Flight of a prototype “standard” small satellite bus embodying the finalized set of requirements by the small satellite standardization sub-group of the CANEUS SSWG.
3. Flight of a “real” science mission or in-space demonstration of a small satellite mission designed to achieve a particular agency customer’s requirements.

Workshop Overview Document

CANEUS SSWG is the world’s catalyst for the small (Micro/Nano/Pico) satellite industry to bring breakthrough technologies to this space community by ensuring space qualification, lower cost, reliability and added-value. By setting global direction, creating opportunities for flexible collaboration and conducting strategic R&D CSS-WG delivers significant ROI to our small satellite industry partners.

About The Aerospace Corporation:
The Aerospace Corporation is the leading architect of the US national-security space program and a principal technical resource for programs of national significanc. The Aerospace Corporation's FFRDC is sponsored by the United States Air Force, and provides objective technical analyses and assessments for space programs that serve the national interest.