Ladybeetle-I: design of the brightest beacon lamp for LEO microsatellite

Abstract

As a commercial aerospace education satellite, “Ladybeetle-I” has flashed many times around the world, which has attracted the attention of many astronomers. This manuscript presents the design of the beacon lamp of this satellite. Consider the limitation of low power consumption, small volume and light weight of “Ladybeetle-I”, this beacon lamp is designed by the combination of light emitting diode (LED) array structure and total internal reflection (TIR) lens. Firstly, through the analysis of structure parameters, color temperature and working state of LED, the light source of the beacon lamp is realized. Secondly, through the analysis of the requirements parameter of TIR lens, the lens of the beacon lamp is realized. This beacon lamp realizes that the “Ladybeetle-I” in the 547-km LEO can be directly observed by naked eyes within the radius of more than 25 km. Furthermore, the satellite in-orbit test results show that the brightness of the beacon lamp at Sub-Satellite Point is higher than -0.6 magnitude (m) stars. To the best of our knowledge, “Ladybeetle-I”, which utilizes this beacon lamp, is the first and only LEO satellite that can be directly observed by naked eye.