Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg

Published purpose

The command and data handling (C&DH) subsystem is the “control center” of a satellite that receives commands from the communications subsystem, performs command decoding and validation, and distributes commands to the appropriate subsystems and payloads. Networks of mass-produced satellites are poised to offer major breakthroughs in communications and remote sensing. For these applications, a next generation command and data handling unit (C&DH NextGen) that has increased functionality while being more compact and much lower cost will be required. Significant innovation will be needed to deliver the required C&DH functionality within a smaller and lower cost physical unit, however, such an achievement will have the potential to make wide-scale direct and indirect contributions that will positively affect the life of the broader Canadian public at the national level.