Launch and deployment of distributed small satellite systems

Crisp, Nicholas; Smith, Katherine; Hollingsworth, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.04.015

Cited by 58 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In doing so, the assumption of needing an extra launch vehicle for every additional plane in the architecture is made. This is a reasonable assumption since many small satellites do not have propulsion capabilities to do expensive out-of-plane orbit maneuvers such as changing RAAN [7]. A possibility not considered in this work is the ability of the upper stage of the launch vehicle to make plane changes and deliver satellites to multiple planes.…”

Section: Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

et al. 2019

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The orbit and constellation design process for Earth observation missions is complex and it involves trades between different metrics such as mission lifetime, instrument performance, coverage, cost, and risk among others. In this work, these figures of merit were utilized to support the orbit selection process used during Pre-Phase A and Phase A studies for the NASA-funded Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity (TROP-ICS) mission. Thousands of potential constellations were defined, simulated and compared with each other according to different mission coverage requirements. The sensitivity and robustness of figures of merit to various hypothetical operational failures (e.g., loss of one satellite or one launch) was systematically measured. A deployment strategy based on differential drag was described and analyzed. Finally, the orbital lifetime of various architectures was also studied with respect to NASA's 25 years de-orbiting recommendation. The contributions of this work include: (1) an exhaustive analysis of figures of merit commonly used in Earth observation orbit design, including a new metric called Continuous High-Revisit Coverage, which captures the long coverage gaps left by string-of-pearls constellations. (2) A methodology to assess robustness of constellations based on a brute-force disjoint scenario simulation approach (3) Results and recommendations from the mission analysis process for the TROP-ICS mission. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Pau Garcia Buzzi is a second-year aerospace engineering student at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University. He received a double Bachelor's degree in industrial and telecommunications engineering from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) in Barcelona, Spain. In August 2018, he will graduate with an Master's of Science degree in aerospace engineering. He is particularly interested in the coverage analysis and constellation design for Earth observation missions. During the past two years, Pau worked under the supervision of his advisor, Dr. Daniel Selva, as part of the orbit and constellation design team of the NASA-funded Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity (TROPICS) mission. This experience provided him with valuable experience and insight into the orbit analysis and design of large constellations of Earth observing satellites. Pau was initially a doctorate student at Cornell University but will transfer to Texas A&M together with his advisor in the Fall 2018 semester, after obtaining his Master's degree from Cornell University. In the short term, he looks forward to continuing his investigation and applying machine learning techniques to the orbit and constellation design of future space missions. In 3 years, Pau wishes to obtain his doctorate degree at Texas A&M university. Outside of academics, Pau enjoys outside activities including fitness and running, and he has a lifelong passion for soccer. iii This document is dedicated to all my friend...

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Section: Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

et al. 2019

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“…Also, the price per kilogram of the payload of concept 3 is at the same level of those charged by a launch service provider selling rideshare opportunities [19]. Concept 3, however, would offer the service, for a 500 kg class satellite, in a dedicated flight for an equivalent price per kilogram thus opening the opportunity for satellite providers to establish their planned constellations [20,21].…”

Section: C Dev C F Ab C Doc C Ioc C Atz C P F T C Add Cpf (Wyr) Cpmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Brazilian Space Launch System for the Small Satellite Market

et al. 2019

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At present, most small satellites are delivered as hosted payloads on large launch vehicles. Considering the current technological development, constellations of small satellites can provide a broad range of services operating at designated orbits. To achieve that, small satellite customers are seeking cost-effective launch services for dedicated missions. This paper deals with performance and cost assessments of a set of launch vehicle concepts based on a solid propellant rocket engine (S-50) under development by the Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Brazil) with support from the Brazilian Space Agency. Cost estimation analysis, based on the TRANSCOST model, was carried out taking into account the costs of launch system development, vehicle fabrication, direct and indirect operation cost. A cost-competitive expendable launch system was identified by using three S-50 solid rocket motors for the first stage, one S-50 engine for the second stage and a flight-proven cluster of pressure-fed liquid engines for the third stage. This launch system, operating from the Alcantara Launch Center, located at 2 ∘ 20’ S, would deliver satellites from the 500 kg class in typical polar missions with a specific transportation cost of about US$39,000 per kilogram of payload at a rate of 12 launches per year, in dedicated missions. At a low inclined orbit, vehicle payload capacity increased, decreasing the specific transportation cost to about 32,000 US$/kg. Cost analysis also showed that vehicle development effort would claim 781 work year, or less than 80 million dollars. Vehicle fabrication accounted for 174 work year representing less than 23 million dollars per unit. The launch system based on the best concept would, therefore, deploy small satellite constellations in cost-effective dedicated launches, 224 work year per flight, from the Alcantara Launch Center in Brazil.

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“…Th e popularity of university-built CubeSats can be demonstrated by reviewing the number of university missions already launched; 266 university-class missions had launched until the end of 2015 (Swartwout and Jayne 2016). Moreover, a new business based on a constellation of CubeSats conducting Earth observation is in operation (Crisp et al 2015). Similarly, interplanetary and deep-space exploration missions have also been developed by universities (Yoon et al 2014;Babuscia et al xx/xx 02/15…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-Bus and Dual-Bus Architectures of Electrical Power Systems for Small Spacecraft

González-Llorente

Lidtke

Hurtado

et al. 2019

J.Aerosp. Technol. Manag.

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Nowadays, it has become possible for universities and new businesses to launch satellites of reduced size and cost fulfilling viable missions. Nevertheless, there is still a considerable failure rate that reduces the expected lifetime of these spacecraft. One of the main causes of failure is the power system. Redundancy is one of the main options to enhance its lifetime and lower the failure rate. However, cost, mass, and complexity increase due to redundancy, making it more difficult to complete the projects. Thus, it is necessary to enhance the lifetime of power systems while keeping the development process simple and fast. This paper proposes two configurations of an electrical power system with duplicate components: single-bus configuration has been designed for a nanosatellite not yet launched and dual-bus configuration for a micro deep-space probe launched into a heliocentric orbit. The design and implementation of two dual electrical power systems are described; measurements and on-orbit data of the electrical power system of the micro deep-space probe are also presented, demonstrating that the dual-bus electrical power system can be successfully used in spacecraft. Lastly, conclusions regarding the redundancy considerations for small satellite electrical power systems are drawn based on these two examples.

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Launch and deployment of distributed small satellite systems

Cited by 58 publications

References 21 publications

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

A Brazilian Space Launch System for the Small Satellite Market

Single-Bus and Dual-Bus Architectures of Electrical Power Systems for Small Spacecraft

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