GHGSat D [UTIAS]
Official name GHGSAT-C3
Alternative name GHGSat C3
Cospar ID 2022-057F
Norad ID 52737
Launch date 2022-05-25
Launch site AFETR
Launch vehicle Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5)
Country/Organization Canada
Type application Earth observation
Operator GHGSat Inc.
RCS size MEDIUM
Decay date ON ORBIT
Period (min) 94.8
Inclination (deg) 97.57
Perigee (km) 504
Apogee (km) 514
Eccentricity 0.00982318271119843
Mean motion (revs. per day) 15.1898734177215
Semi-Major axis (km) 6887.135
Raan (deg) 238.9395
Arg of perigee (deg) 348.5972
Shape Box
Mass (kg) 15
Height (m) 0.4
Width (m) 0.2
Depth (m) 0.2
Span (m^2) 0.4
Lifetime 3 years
Contractors UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL)
Configuration Nemo-V1 bus
Power Solar cells, batteries

The GHGSat D (Greenhouse Gas Satellite - Demonstrator) satellite, nicknamed Claire, is a microsatellite build by UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for GHGSat Inc. as a next generation greenhouse gas monitoring satellite.

The satellite is a next generation greenhouse gas monitoring satellite. The satellite will demonstrate an advanced miniature hyperspectral SWIR imaging spectrometer for monitoring targeted greenhouse gas emitters such as area fugitive sources (tailing ponds and landfills) and stacks (emissions such as flaring and venting). A secondary instrument will measure clouds and aerosols in order to enhance retrievals from the primary instrument. The 15-kilogram satellite will be a precursor to a commercial constellation of greenhouse gas monitoring satellites as part of a service provided by GHGSat Inc. The low-cost and high-performance of SFL?s NEMO bus is an enabler for this mission.

The bus is the next evolution to the Gryphon Bus (GNB) technology and provides a foundation for future high-performance nanosatellites from the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL). The bus has a primary structure measuring 20 cm by 20 cm by 40 cm and is capable of peak power generation up to 80 W. A minimum of 30 W is available to the payload, which enables the bus to support a dedicated state-of-the-art high speed transmitter. The bus is designed with a total mass of 15 kg, 9 kg of which is dedicated to the payload. It can be configured for full three-axis control with up to 1 arcmin pointing stability.

In early 2017, GHGSat Inc. ordered two more satellites of the same design, GHGSat C1 and C2, which will be launched in 2019. In November 2020, three more satellites were ordered. And in March 2022, another three satellites were ordered.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
GHGSAT-D 2016-040D 2016-06-22 SRI PSLV-XL with Cartosat 2C, SkySat 3, BIROS, M3MSat, LAPAN A3, Flock-2p 1, ..., 12, SathyabamaSat, Swayam, BeeSat 4
M3MSAT 2016-040G 2016-06-22 SRI PSLV-XL with Cartosat 2C, SkySat 3, BIROS, M3MSat, LAPAN A3, Flock-2p 1, ..., 12, SathyabamaSat, Swayam, BeeSat 4
GHGSAT-C1 2020-061G 2020-09-03 FRGUI Vega with Athena, ION-SCV 1, ESAIL, UPMSat 2, NEMO-HD, ÑuSat 6, Flock-4v 1, ..., 26, Lemur-2 112, ..., 119, SpaceBEE 10, ..., 21, FSSCat A, B, NAPA 1, TARS, EG 2, OSM 1 CICERO, DIDO 3, PICASSO, SIMBA, TRISAT, AMICal-Sat, TTÜ100
GHGSAT-C2 2021-006DA 2021-01-24 AFETR Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with Starlink v1.0 R1-1, ..., R1-10, QPS-SAR 2, Capella 3, 4, ICEYE X8, X9, XR 1, Hawk 2A, 2B, 2C, Sherpa-FX 1, ION-SCV 002, AII-Charlie, Hiber 4, ASELSAT, PIXL 1, SOMP 2b, IDEASSat, YUSAT 1, UVSQ-SAT, V-R3x 1, 2, 3, Flock-4s 1, ..., 48, Kepler 8, ..., 15, Astrocast 0101, ..., 0105, SpaceBEE 40, ..., 75, Lemur-2 130, ..., 137, PTD 1, Prometheus-2 10, ARCE 1A, 1B, 1C
GHGSAT-C3 2022-057F 2022-05-25 AFETR Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with Umbra 03, ICEYE X17, ..., X20, X24, ÑuSat 28, ..., 31, GHGSat C3, C4, C5, Hawk 5A, 5B, 5C, CICERO-2 1, 2, Sherpa-AC 1, ION-SCV 006, Guardian 1, SBUDNIC, Vigoride 3, SelfieSat, FossaSat 2E7, ..., 2E13, Veery FS-1, Urdaneta-Armsat 1, Spark 2, AMS, CNCE 4, 5, Platform 1, BroncoSat 1, Foresail 1, Planetum 1, SPiN 1, Connecta T1.1, Centauri 5, Lemur-2 152, Lemur-2 153, ..., 156, VariSat 1C, PTD 3, CPOD A, B, OMD 1
GHGSAT-C5 2022-057N 2022-05-25 AFETR Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with Umbra 03, ICEYE X17, ..., X20, X24, ÑuSat 28, ..., 31, GHGSat C3, C4, C5, Hawk 5A, 5B, 5C, CICERO-2 1, 2, Sherpa-AC 1, ION-SCV 006, Guardian 1, SBUDNIC, Vigoride 3, SelfieSat, FossaSat 2E7, ..., 2E13, Veery FS-1, Urdaneta-Armsat 1, Spark 2, AMS, CNCE 4, 5, Platform 1, BroncoSat 1, Foresail 1, Planetum 1, SPiN 1, Connecta T1.1, Centauri 5, Lemur-2 152, Lemur-2 153, ..., 156, VariSat 1C, PTD 3, CPOD A, B, OMD 1
GHGSAT-C4 2022-057Q 2022-05-25 AFETR Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with Umbra 03, ICEYE X17, ..., X20, X24, ÑuSat 28, ..., 31, GHGSat C3, C4, C5, Hawk 5A, 5B, 5C, CICERO-2 1, 2, Sherpa-AC 1, ION-SCV 006, Guardian 1, SBUDNIC, Vigoride 3, SelfieSat, FossaSat 2E7, ..., 2E13, Veery FS-1, Urdaneta-Armsat 1, Spark 2, AMS, CNCE 4, 5, Platform 1, BroncoSat 1, Foresail 1, Planetum 1, SPiN 1, Connecta T1.1, Centauri 5, Lemur-2 152, Lemur-2 153, ..., 156, VariSat 1C, PTD 3, CPOD A, B, OMD 1