"Dream the impossible. Then make it happen," said engineering professor Jayshri Sabarinathan in her address at the dedication ceremony celebrating the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (Western Space) Mission Control Facility on June 20.
Following the success of the Ukpik-1 CubeSat - a miniature satellite project in 2023 - the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) awarded Sabarinathan an opportunity to build and operate a new CubeSat called the Western Skylark to track migratory birds. Sabarinathan and Western Space identified a need for a robust mission control centre that would allow for projects to support large interdisciplinary collaboration and optimize real-world training in space research.
Western Skylark, with the need to collect space-based data to track birds in Northern Canada, is the perfect example. Mission control centres are few and far between in Canada - and fewer still with control centres connected to ground stations.
Located in the Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB), the new facility will propel the next generation of space research. The hub features a ground station that has direct connection to the satellite dish on the roof of the WIRB, enabling more frequent, efficient, secure and accurate tracking and communication with satellites and downloading of data. Once licensed by the federal government, the facility can operate independently of agencies such as CSA or NASA.
"The commissioning of the new Mission Control Facility provides a unique and flexible space for mission conception, design and operations. Interdisciplinary teams can come together for mission planning and training and then execute complex remote operations," said Sarah Gallagher, physics and astronomy professor and director of Western Space. "We have embedded connectivity and security into the design of the space so that we can support activities with exacting requirements. This new facility allows us to level up our research and positions us for new and ambitious partnerships."
Gallagher explained that the flexible, modular and high-tech design of the facility enables it to support a wide range of research, including rover missions, analogue missions (testing operations on Earth before executing in space), operating telescopes and advancing remote health care. For example, the large space would allow a physician who is examining a patient in another location using holographic virtual reality to do a comprehensive, full-body exam.
The Faculty of Science provided funding for state-of-the-art AV equipment, including a 360-degree Meeting Owl camera to support seamless and immersive hybrid meetings. Western Special Constable Service assisted in ensuring research security requirements were met. The hub is also equipped with 13 adjustable tables, four large mobile monitors and a reading corner including books signed by authors with ties to Western Space.
New Mission Control 'primed for collaboration'
The new space replaces a smaller control room previously located in the basement of the Physics and Astronomy Building. The WIRB facility was two years in the making. Its development was funded through $750,000 from Western's Strategic Priorities Fund and the space was allocated by the Office of the Vice-President (Research).
"Mission Control is a community asset and is primed for collaboration, where research teams and partners can come together," said Gallagher.
The Mission Control Facility has already hosted a range of activities, including Western's annual Space Day, hybrid presentations with Environment Canada and workshop space for the CubeSat project.
"The launch of this facility marks a milestone in Western Space research, and as an evolving leader in Earth and space research in Canada, I'm thrilled that this new facility will allow researchers from different disciplines, as well as external research, government and industry partners to work together," said Western President Alan Shepard.
"This facility will accommodate high-level training for the next generation of engineers, scientists, Earth scientists and others to fuel space research in Canada and around the world."
Western anticipates the control centre will support six missions in 2026, including planning for observations with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (MRO-HiRISE), which provides high-resolution imaging of Mars, and Western Skylark.
"We are now at a point of being able to support one CubeSat project every year. One will be in the planning and design phase, another in the assembly phase and the third in the operations phase. Each one of those projects will address key challenges in science, engineering or society, spanning areas such as remote observation, quantum and optical satellite communications (in which light and lasers are used to transmit data between satellites and ground stations), astronomy, ecology and planetary research," said Sabarinathan.
"The CubeSat now allows people in Canada to access space projects and be part of this space future. With this Mission Control Facility, Western is now an active part of that future, and generations of students, researchers, faculty and the broader London community will be able to participate."
