Effect of Atomic Oxygen on LEO CubeSat

Mahmoud, W. M.; Elfiky, Dalia; Robaa, S. M.; El-Nawawy, M. S.; Yousef, S. M.

doi:10.1007/s42405-020-00336-w

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Among many volatile factors in space, the relatively high energy of the atomic oxygen (AO) [11] that exists at Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) altitude allows molecular bonds in materials to break. This can cause surface degradation to nano-satellite or CubeSat satellites [12] and their commercial off-shelf parts, such as their antennas.…”

Section: B Open Challenges In Satellite Fingerprintingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust satellite antenna fingerprinting under degradation using recurrent neural network

2022

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Antenna fingerprinting is critical for a range of physical-layer wireless security protocols to prevent eavesdropping. The fingerprinting process exploits manufacturing defects in the antenna that cause small imperfections in signal waveform, which are unique to each antenna and hence device identity. It is an established process for physical-layer wireless authentication with proven usage systems in terrestrial systems. The premise relies on accurate signal feature discovery from a large set of similar antennas and stable fingerprint patterns over the operational life of the antenna. However, in space, many low-cost satellite antennas suffer degradation from atomic oxygen (AO). This is particularly a problem for nano-satellites or impromptu temporary space antennas to establish an emergency link, both of which are designed to operate for a short time span and are currently not always afforded protective coating. Current antenna fingerprinting techniques only use Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to take a snap-shot fingerprint before degradation, and hence fail to capture temporal variations due to degradation. Here, we show how we can perform robust antenna fingerprinting (99.34% accuracy) for up to 198 days under intense AO degradation damage using Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). We compare our RNN results with CNNs and SVM techniques using different signal features and for different Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite scenarios. We believe this initial research can be further improved and has real-world impact on physical-layer security of short-term nano-satellite antennas in space.

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Section: B Open Challenges In Satellite Fingerprintingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust satellite antenna fingerprinting under degradation using recurrent neural network

2022

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“…Density and ux values of AO are higher during maximum solar activity than at minimum. The average uence of AO per year and the corresponding erosion depth varies in response to solar activity variations within the solar cycle (Samwell 2014) and Mahmoud et al (2021)). In general AO, hence O+, are the dominant species in the LEO environment.…”

Section: Atomic Oxygen (Ao)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oxygen atoms have high corrosive power during and after combining with the material. According to the satellite's orbital velocity of 7.8 km/s in LEO, the satellite is exposed to very strong streams of AO at energies in the range of 5 eV (Mahmoud et al (2021) and Dooling and Finckenor (1991)).…”

Section: Atomic Oxygen (Ao)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Standalone Prediction Model for Atomic Oxygen, Coronal Mass Ejections and Relevant Space Environment Parameters

Mahmoud¹,

Elfiky

Robaa

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Satellite protection depends greatly on good prediction of the surrounding space environment components and hazards. The space environment of the Low Earth Orbits (LEOs) is highly affected by solar activity. This paper presents a standalone predictive model for Atomic Oxygen (AO), Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and other space environment parameters. The prediction is based on the numerical method of Holt Winter's triple smooth exponential forecasting of atmospheric constituents (density ‘ρ’, temperature ‘T’, Argon ‘Ar’, Helium ‘He’, Nitrogen molecules ‘N2’ and atoms ‘N’, Oxygen molecules ‘O2’ and atomic Oxygen ‘AO’, solar irradiance, CME central Position Angle ‘PA’, linear speed, mass, angular width and Measurement of Position Angle ‘MPA’ as well as the output life time of the orbit. Some statistical analyses are performed for the verification of the model. The present study focuses on the prediction of AO, CME, density, temperature and Hydrogen atoms. This study recommends the continuous development and improvements of mathematical models for predicting solar activity and its impacts on the LEOs space environment.

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“…Some of the atmospheric species can cause significant damage to the satellite structural elements, payload(s) or the thruster components, which in turn would jeopardize the mission. For instance, around Earth, as VLEO is an atomic oxygen (AO) rich environment, the resistance to oxidation of the exposed components will determine the satellite's lifetime [5]. A schematic of an ABEP-based spacecraft is depicted in Figure 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and analysis of novel mission scenarios based on Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP)

et al. 2022

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Operating satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) benefits the already expanding New Space industry in applications including Earth Observation and beyond. However, long-term operations at such low altitudes require propulsion systems to compensate for the large aerodynamic drag forces. When using conventional propulsion systems, the amount of storable propellant limits the maximum mission lifetime. The latter can be avoided by employing Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system, which collects the residual atmospheric particles and uses them as propellant for an electric thruster. Thus, the requirement of on-board propellant storage can ideally be nullified. At the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) of the University of Stuttgart, an intake, and a RF Helicon-based Plasma Thruster (IPT) for ABEP system are developed within the Horizons 2020 funded DISCOVERER project. In order to assess possible future use cases, this paper proposes and analyzes several novel ABEP based mission scenarios. Beginning with technology demonstration mission in VLEO, more complex mission scenarios are derived and discussed in detail. These include, amongst others, orbit maintenance around Mars as well as refuelling and space tug missions. The results show that the ABEP system is not only able to compensate drag for orbit maintenance but also capable of performing orbital maneuvers and collect propellant for applications such as Space Tug and Refuelling. Thus, showing a multitude of different future mission applications.

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Effect of Atomic Oxygen on LEO CubeSat

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Robust satellite antenna fingerprinting under degradation using recurrent neural network

Robust satellite antenna fingerprinting under degradation using recurrent neural network

A Standalone Prediction Model for Atomic Oxygen, Coronal Mass Ejections and Relevant Space Environment Parameters

Development and analysis of novel mission scenarios based on Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP)

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