The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) at UTIAS is Canada's premier microspace organization. SFL builds low-cost satellites that continually push the performance envelope. Missions are typically developed with stringent attitude control and high-volume data requirements that are striking relative to the budget available. SFL celebrates 13 cutting-edge satellites in orbit with over 45 years of cumulative on-orbit heritage to date. At present, the lab has 8 additional satellites under construction or waiting for launch. With these numbers, SFL is presently Canada’s most prolific satellite builder and exporter of satellites internationally. SFL’s mandate is to lower the entry barrier for organizations around the world to meet their needs in space while requiring modest investment. Commercial business models are sensitive to cost and SFL solutions allow businesses to close financial models for new satellite services. Government programs worldwide have benefited from SFL’s low cost missions, enabling them to operate in space for a fraction of the traditional cost and to accomplish big things within small budgets. SFL satellites are surprisingly small for their performance and mission objectives, keeping launch costs to a minimum. For over 17 years, SFL has provided quality small mission solutions worldwide, covering all aspects of mission implementation, from concept to manufacturing to launch and on-orbit operations.
