[SatNews] An imager, an early warning system, and a Dragsail...

At the Technology Strategy Board Collaboration Nation event, concluding the Space Feasibility study activities, Clyde Space presented three innovative technology concepts for use on CubeSats. The concepts were a high resolution imager for a 3U CubeSat for global digital mapping, a Bush Fire early warning system using a constellation of 3U CubeSats with infrared imaging capability, and a Dragsail for automatically deorbiting CubeSats at the end of mission life. A summary of the studies can be found in this PDF (extract from the Technology Strategy Board report): Clyde Space TSB Study Summaries. There is also a video of the high resolution imager concept at this location, as well as information regarding the dragsail prototype test. There was a Scottish flavor to the CubeSat session at the event, with 7 out of 13 projects from Scottish companies. Scotland seems to be gaining momentum as a hub for CubeSat innovation. The other Scottish companies presenting at the event were: Steepest Ascent, Star Dundee, MESL Microwave and ThinkTank Maths.