BIRD: More than 3 years experience in orbit

Kurzfassung

The DLR micro satellite BIRD was piggy-back launched on 22 October 2001. The BIRD mission, fully funded by the DLR, answers topical technological and scientific questions related to the operation of a compact infra-red push-broom sensor system on board of a micro satellite and demonstrates new spacecraft bus technologies. The payload is dedicated to the observation of high temperature events and consists mainly of a Bi-Spectral Infrared Push Broom Scanner and a Push Broom Imager for the Visible and Near Infrared. With respect to this payload BIRD is a precursor mission for small satellite projects dedicated to the hazard detection and monitoring. BIRD demonstrates new small satellite technologies like on-board processing technologies based on COTS high performance components, high precision reaction wheels, a low-cost star sensor and an on-board navigation system. These technological experiences will be studied now in detail to reduce the costs for related future missions. Further more, the aspect of the cost reduction is not only restricted to the technology, but is also driven by the efficiency of the implementation and mission management. The BIRD mission has served all these fields and can be used now as a case study. The paper will describe the first attempts to optimise the overall BIRD mission scenario making future missions more cost-effective.