PROTEUS (acronym for Reconfigurable Platform for Observation, Telecommunications and Scientific Uses) is a 3-axis stabilized platform designed for mini-satellites weighing approximately 500 kg operating in low Earth orbit. The platform is used by six scientific satellites developed as part of the space program of the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) for the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

Jason-1 Jason-1 was a satellite altimeter oceanography mission. It sought to monitor global ocean circulation, study the ties between the ocean and the atmosphere, improve global climate forecasts and predictions, and monitor events such as El Niño ...

, 2 and 3,

CALIPSO CALIPSO was a joint NASA (US) and CNES (France) environmental satellite, built in the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which was launched atop a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006. Its name stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Sa ...

CoRoT CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

, and SMOS. The platform is developed by the satellite division of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...

(in 2016

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...

History

In 1993, CNES decided to launch the development of the PROTEUS mini-satellite program in parallel and jointly with the Jason-1 satellite, the first user for the platform. Program goals including meeting recurring requirements for satellite solutions in the 500 kg-700 kg class intended for operation in low orbits as platforms for various science and applications. After an industrial consultation with the national prime contractors of the time, Aérospatiale (Cannes) was selected, in May 1996, as industrial prime contractor, with the system to be built in the Cannes-Mandelieu space center. By 2010, the PROTEUS platform accumulated 20 years of on-orbit success, with the five satellites that had been orbited: Jason-1, CALIPSO, CoRoT, Jason-2, and SMOS. In the same multi-mission platform perspective, the Myriade program to support mission objectives achievable with microsatellites weighing less than 200 kg.

Technical Characteristics

PROTEUS is a 3-axis stabilized platform designed for missions in low earth orbit for satellites with a total mass of approximately 500 kg, including 270 kg for the platform excluding propellants. Its main features are as follows: * Dimensions: 954 mm x 954 mm x 1,000 mm * Energy: solar panels with an area of 9.5 m², with one degree of freedom and providing 450 watts (Jason-1) to 550 watts (Jason-3) at the theoretical end of life * Attitude control: the satellite is stabilized on 3 axes with a pointing precision of 0.15° (Jason-3). The fine sensors used to determine the orientation of the satellite are two three-axis star finder and three two-axis gyrometers. The coarse sensors are three-axis magnetometers and 8 solar sensors with an optical field of 4 ft. The orientation is corrected using four reaction wheels which are desaturated using magneto-couplers. * Propulsion: liquid propellant rocket motors burning hydrazine with a Delta-v capacity of about 120 m/s. The mass of hydrazine carried is 28 kg (Jason-3). * Data storage: 500 megabits for telemetry data and 2 gigabits for scientific data. * Communications: S-band telecommunications with a maximum throughput of 800 kilobits/s. * Lifespan: 3 years for consumables, 5 years for hardware and radiation tolerance.

Responsibilities

The PROTEUS platform and command and control segment has been developed based on a partnership between CNES and Aérospatiale (now Thales). The integrated team carries out the design of the PROTEUS multi-mission bus, the industrial production of the platform and associated satellites of which is the responsibility of Thales Alenia Space. In accordance with the partnership agreements, CNES remains in contro of workfor its own missions.

Applications

Six satellites use this platform: *

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

for measuring the height of the oceans, launched on December 7, 2001. It celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2011 and reached end of mission in 2013 *

, launched April 28, 2006, meteorological satellite that has been operating for more than 14 years. *

, space telescope for studying the internal structure of stars and searching for exoplanets, launched on December 27, 2006. *

OSTM/Jason-2 OSTM/Jason-2, or Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite, was an international Earth observation satellite altimeter joint mission for sea surface height measurements between NASA and CNES. It was the third satellite in a series sta ...

, follow-on mission to Jason-1, launched on June 20, 2008. * SMOS, soil humidity study mission, launched on November 2, 2009. *

Jason-3 Jason-3 is a satellite altimeter created by a partnership of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), and is an international cooperative mi ...

, copy of Jason-2, ordered on February 24, 2010 by EUMETSAT and placed in orbit in January 2016. This is the most recent satellite using this platform.

References

Bibliography

*{{citation , language = en , first1=M. , last1= Sghedoni , display-authors=etal , title = Attitude and Orbit Control System for Multimission Spacecraft Platform , journal =Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems, Proceedings of the 3rd ESA International Conference , volume= 341 , number= , date=1997 , pages= 133–139 , isbn= 9290922079, url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1997ESASP.381..133S/0000135.000.html , id=Sghedoni1997 , bibcode=1997ESASP.381..133S

External links

Thales Alenia Space
Satellites orbiting Earth Earth observation satellites Space telescopes Satellites of France