It could improve the safety of flights that cross the earth's equator or poles.

The University of Saskatchewan's Space Design Team will present a satellite design to a panel of judges at the Canadian Space Agency next week.

Brenton Wirachowsky is the payload team lead, his job was to develop the satellite's scientific mission to study plasma in the atmosphere, which interferes with radio signals.

He says the process they're using is brand new, designed to replace the current state of the art in this technology: big, expensive, high-orbit Global Positioning System satellites, "With our lower orbit, small and inexpensive satellite, and with our novel technique, we will be able to perform it more accurately on this smaller platform, on an essentially amateur ground station. So we'll be saving millions of dollars."

After their presentation in Ottawa, Wirachowsky says they hope to secure a launch date by the end of the year, and get to work on building the actual satellite.

The results, according to Space Design Team President Aarya Shahsavar, could mean safer flights that cross the earth's poles or equator, and more accurate GPS systems for the entire planet.

The team will be presenting their design to the Canadian Space Agency next week, competing with 9 other teams from across the country.

But Shahsavar says their project is already being backed by the United States Naval Research Institute, "If we don't get the pass we're looking for in Ottawa, which I think would be a surprise, then we have alternative paths to explore. I can't necessarily comment on what those paths are, but stay tuned."

Regardless of the results in Ottawa, he says they require between 300 and 400 thousand dollars to complete the project, and will launch a fundraising campaign, beginning with a contest to name the satellite at www.USST.ca.

(pb feb 16/12)