On May 14th, 2021, 1-2 PM UTC, we will commemorate our 50th session with a double feature: Alfred Ng (Technical Lead on the Canadian CubeSat Project at the Canadian Space Agency) will give a talk about the Canadian CubeSat Project:Building Space Capacity in Canada and Luis Gomes (AAC Clyde Space) will briefly discuss the journey that AAC Clyde Space is undertaking to offer users more and better data, following the trends that emerged in the United Kingdom in the last decade. The moderator will be Anna Guerman, Associate Professor at the Department of Aerospace Sciences at the University of Beira Interior in Covilha, Portugal

As pointed out by Luis Gomes, we live in an era defined by an insatiable appetite for data and information. We want to know more, and we want to know it quicker. This drive to produce more data, better data and more timely data is changing the structure of the space technology ecosystem, requiring organisations to go past just delivering hardware into orbit. Increasingly we are asked to provide solutions to provide information and services from the satellites. The transitioning of the industry to data and service focused products started sometime ago, but only now are we seeing the results of that transformation.

Speakers

Alfred Ng

Canadian CubeSat Project: Building Space Capacity in Canada

Alfred Ng obtained his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1992. He joined the Canadian Space Agency as the Research Scientist the same year and he is currently Deputy Director in the Engineering & Capability Demonstration Directorate. He served for 6 years as the Chair of International Astronautical Federation Astrodynamics Committee. He is also a member of International Academy of Astronautics.  Currently, he is the Technical Lead on Canadian CubeSat Project. He has authored and co-authored 14 journal publications and over 45 conference papers.

Luis Gomes

From Hardware to Services & Data: the changing focus of the space industry

Luis Gomes started working on smallsats in the mid-1990s while studying for his degree in Lisbon and joined Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in 1997 as a Mission Analyst, later taking on the project management of several EO missions. He run the Earth Observation (EO) division of SSTL for several years, leading developments in optics, SAR and video from space, before taking the role of Commercial Director and later CTO of the company.

Luis joined AAC Clyde Space as CEO in 2019 to pursue the next revolution in the space industry. Since Joining the company Luis has focused his efforts in growing the company and extending the Space Data as a Service business line, with a view to make services and data from space more accessible to all.

Moderator

Anna D. Guerman

Anna D. Guerman graduated from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology and made her PhD at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Since 1994 she works in the University of Beira Interior in Covilha, Portugal, and now is Associate Professor at the Department of Aerospace Sciences. Her research area is Astrodynamics with focus on Spacecraft Attitude and Orbital Dynamics and Control. She works on spacecraft attitude dynamics, control of large space structures, and formation flying. Anna has been the PI and team member in international and national projects. She is Full Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She is also Chair of the Astrodynamics Committee of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

We will continue with the Networking Fridays during the next months. More information about future sessions as well as presentations and videos from previous sessions can be found here. Twitter Hashtag: #netfridays. Expect some very exciting afternoons, or mornings or evenings, depending on where you are…

If you need any additional information please send an email to Jose Luiz Moutinho.