Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. Photo: MBRSC.

The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) of Toronto announced the signing of a new contract to provide Dubai-based Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) with a microsatellite for aerosol and greenhouse gas monitoring. SFL’s Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation (NEMO) platform technology, which incorporates high-performance ground target tracking capability, is a key enabler for the mission.

The DMSat 1 (also known as AirWatch) satellite will leverage past developments at SFL for a mission that will incorporate two payloads. The primary payload is a multispectral polarimeter used to monitor aerosols — fine particles of liquid and solids in the upper atmosphere normally caused by man-made sources, but also correlating to natural phenomena such as dust storms.

The secondary instrument is a pair of spectrometers that will enable MBRSC to detect greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane over the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Researchers local to the UAE will conduct the study of aerosols and greenhouse gases.

According to SFL, in previous missions, the NEMO bus has demonstrated precise attitude control and target tracking capabilities that will play a key role in the accurate pointing of the DMSat 1 sensors.