Gray Jay

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) developed three 30-kg formation-flying microsatellites for Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). The Gray Jay Arctic surveillance technology demonstration mission launched 14 January 2025 aboard the SpaceX Transporter-12 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

DRDC funded the Gray Jay demonstration mission to support Canada’s ability to exercise sovereignty in the Arctic and provide enhanced situational awareness for safety and security applications. As a research and development mission, the microsatellite cluster flies in close formation and carries multiple sensors to enable independent methods of detecting surface and airborne objects, including radio frequency (RF) geolocation. These concurrently obtained sensor observations are expected to improve the responsiveness of detection and follow up, which may not be straightforward or timely when individual sensors are located on non-collaborating satellites.

Following a competitive process, DRDC selected SFL for the Gray Jay mission due to SFL’s highly successful track record in precise attitude control and formation flying – capabilities that are challenging to achieve reliably and consistently with low-mass smaller spacecraft. For Gray Jay, precise spacecraft attitude is critical for operation of the imaging payload, while accurate orbit determination and formation flying are important for RF geolocation sensors.