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Abstract: As part of the European Space Situational Awareness programme, ESA uses its 1-m telescope on Tenerife regularly for asteroid observations since 2009. The focus of the work is follow-up observations. In addition, dedicated timeslots are used for survey observations. This paper summarizes the results of the asteroid observations in the year 2010 and provides detailed information on the methodology used for follow-up and survey. In the main part of the paper, lessons-learnt are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In less than a decade, Cubesats have evolved from purely educational tools to a standard platform for technology demonstration and scientific instrumentation. The use of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) components and the ongoing miniaturization of several technologies have already led to scattered instances of missions with promising scientific value. Furthermore, advantages in terms of development cost and development time with respect to larger satellites, as well as the possibility of launching several dozens of Cubesats with a single rocket launch, have brought forth the potential for radically new mission architectures consisting of very large constellations or clusters of Cubesats. These architectures promise to combine the temporal resolution of GEO missions with the spatial resolution of LEO missions, thus breaking a traditional trade-off in Earth observation mission design. This paper assesses the current capabilities of Cubesats with respect to potential employment in Earth observation missions. A thorough review of Cubesat bus technology capabilities is performed, identifying potential limitations and their implications on 17 different Earth observation payload technologies. These results are matched to an exhaustive review of scientific requirements in the field of Earth observation, assessing the possibilities of Cubesats to cope with the requirements set for each one of 21 measurement categories. Based on this review, several Earth observation measurements are identified that can potentially be compatible with the current state-of-the-art of Cubesat technology although some of them have actually never been addressed by any Cubesat mission. Simultaneously, other measurements are identified which are unlikely to be performed by Cubesats in the next few years due to insuperable constraints. Ultimately, this paper is intended to supply a box of ideas for universities to design future Cubesat missions with high scientific payoff. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a joint CNES-EADS Astrium contribution to the ESA''s SMART-2 project. SMART-2, 2nd mission of the Satellite Missions for Advanced Research and Technology program, slated for launch in 2006, will test key technologies needed to develop two ambitious ESA missions: [•] LISA (Laser Interferometry Space Antenna), an ESA cornerstone mission dedicated to the detection and observation of gravitational waves; to be launched in 2011, [•] DARWIN, another ESA cornerstone mission dedicated to the search of Earth-like planets; to be launched in 2015. In Phase A study of this demonstrator, one of the options contemplated by ESA was considering two formation-flying satellites. In that sense, and in order to both reduce and share cost, CNES proposed with the technical support of EADS-Astrium, to build one of them from its Myriade micro-satellite product line, mainly used for LEO scientific applications. The study carried out has permitted to validate the concept of using a low-cost micro-satellite in a scientific interplanetary mission requiring not more than inter-satellite position accuracy! [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Observations of the Earth''s atmosphere are sharing time with astronomy observations on the Odin satellite. Many scientists from both scientific disciplines are now using data collected by Odin since its successful launch in 2001. The Swedish Space Corporation (CSC) developed the Odin system and is also responsible for the operations. The complex mission features a mix of extreme high-technology development, simplified system design and operations, all in a low-cost approach and in a framework of international collaboration between four countries.The small dedicated team responsible for design development and operations, the simple and open customer and end-user interfaces are some keys to the quality and low-cost achieved. Technical and managerial factors contributing to lower risk/higher quality/lower cost - and vise versa -are discussed in the paper. Conclusions are drawn for a follow-on climate research mission, STEAM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]