The in-flight calibration procedures of the Shadow Position Sensors (SPS), a very accurate optical metrology system of the ESA/PROBA-3 formation flying mission

Capobianco, Gerardo; Fineschi, Silvano; Loreggia, D.; Бемпорад, А.; Landini, Federico; Casti, Marta; Romoli, M.; Galano, Damien; Thizy, Cédric

doi:10.1109/metroaerospace.2019.8869623

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The formation flight task requires the use of several metrology subsystems, from coarse accuracy and large scale range determination to very accurate and shorter scale range measurement and absolute positioning. All the data generated by these subsystems are processed in real-time by the Guidance and Navigation Control system, obtaining an unprecedented accuracy [123].…”

Section: ) In-orbit Autonomousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Architectures and Synchronization Techniques for Distributed Satellite Systems: A Survey

Marrero¹,

Duncan²,

Querol³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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CDSS is a key enabling technology for the future of remote sensing and communication missions. However, they have to meet strict synchronization requirements before their use is generalized. When clock or local oscillator signals are generated locally at each of the distributed nodes, achieving exact synchronization in absolute phase, frequency, and time is a complex problem. In addition, satellite systems have significant resource constraints, especially for small satellites, which are envisioned to be part of the future CDSS. Thus, the development of precise, robust, and resource-efficient synchronization techniques is essential for the advancement of future CDSS. In this context, this survey aims to summarize and categorize the most relevant results on synchronization techniques for DSS. First, some important architecture and system concepts are defined. Then, the synchronization methods reported in the literature are reviewed and categorized. This article also provides an extensive list of applications and examples of synchronization techniques for DSS in addition to the most significant advances in other operations closely related to synchronization, such as inter-satellite ranging and relative position. The survey also provides a discussion on emerging data-driven synchronization techniques based on ML. Finally, a compilation of current research activities and potential research topics is proposed, identifying problems and open challenges that can be useful for researchers in the field.

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Section: ) In-orbit Autonomousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Architectures and Synchronization Techniques for Distributed Satellite Systems: A Survey

Marrero¹,

Duncan²,

Querol³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, due to the need for a precise in-flight calibration, the full Sun will be used as reference source and the nominal SPS set will be permitted to observe directly the Sun through a set of neutral density filters mounted in front of each diode on the front door when closed. The redundant set, on the other hand, will have clear holes in front of the diodes to permit a cross calibration during partial eclipses [8]. The SPS will observe within the waveband [500-660]nm that has been selected to reduce the impact of the temperature dependence of the SiPMs responsivity.…”

Section: Proba3 Mission and The Shadow Position Sensors (Sps)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To convert the measured irradiances into the displacement of the coronagraph with respect to the umbra, the algorithm requires an accurate knowledge of the light distribution on the SPS plane. This is obtained by a detailed mathematical modelling of the penumbra profile [11] and by a proper in-flight calibration of the actual Sun light distribution [8]. On the other hand, on-ground calibration plays the critical role to describe the expected response of the SPS diodes, yielding to their complete characterization.…”

Section: Proba3 Mission and The Shadow Position Sensors (Sps)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory testbed for the calibration and the validation of the shadow position sensor subsystem of the PROBA3 ESA mission

Loreggia¹,

Zangrilli²,

Capobianco³

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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The PROBA3 mission of the European Space Agency is the first formation flying (FF) mission that will be flown in high elliptic geocentric orbit aiming at verifying and validating different metrology control systems and algorithms in order to realize and maintain the formation of two independent spacecraft, in total autonomy. The final target accuracy for the relative and absolute alignment of the two satellites is of about 2mm over an inter satellite distance of 144.3m. During the FF, the two spacecraft will realize a giant coronagraph with the external occulter on one payload and the telescope on the other one. The Sun Corona observation will be the scientific tool for the FF validation. Between the different metrology systems that will be tested, the Shadow Position Sensor (SPS) is the most challenging one, aiming at returning the relative and absolute position of the formation with the finest accuracy: 0.5mm out of the guidance and navigation and control loop and 2mm within the loop. The mission program is now in the Phase D with the realization and the testing of the flight model. Due to the high expected performance, a fine calibration of the SPS subsystem is mandatory. In this paper, we discuss the radiometric and spectral calibration plan, the algorithm validation procedure, and the laboratory test-bed realized to reproduce the in-flight observation conditions of the SPS by using a set of calibrated LED and a mechanical set-up equivalent to the SPS system. Preliminary results are also reviewed.

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“…Virtual Conference 30 March-2 April 2021 average of the differences between the measured values and the ones referred to the aligned configuration and d 0 = y 2 0 + z 2 0 . The parameters of the pseudo-paraboloid (i.e, a, b, c, H, K, J and L) are theoretically estimated before the launch, but needs to be calibrated in-flight [ 6]. The third computation method is providing the average of the results of the two described methods.…”

Section: Icso 2020 International Conference On Space Opticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation flying performances simulator for the shadow position sensors of the ESA PROBA-3 mission

Capobianco

Amadori

Fineschi

et al. 2021

International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2020

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PROBA-3 (PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy) is an ESA mission to be launched on beginning of 2023 where a spacecraft is used as an external occulter (OSC-Occulter Spacecraft), to create an artificial solar eclipse as observed by a second spacecraft, the coronagraph (CSC-Coronagraph Spacecraft). The two spacecrafts (SCs) will orbit around the Earth, with a highly elliptic orbit (HEO), with the perigee at 600 km, the apogee at about 60530 km and an eccentricity of ≈ 0.81. The orbital period is of 19.7 hours and the precise formation flight (within 1 mm) will be maintained for about 6 hours over the apogee, in order to guarantee the observation of the solar corona with the required spatial resolution. The relative alignment of the two spacecrafts is obtained by combining information from several subsystems. One of the most accurate subsystems is the Shadow Position Sensors (SPS), composed of eight photo-multipliers installed around the entrance pupil of the CSC. The SPS will monitor the penumbra generated by the occulter spacecraft, whose intensity will change according to the relative position of the two satellites. A dedicated algorithm has been developed to retrieve the displacement of the spacecrafts from the measurements of the SPS. Several tests are required in order to evaluate the robustness of the algorithm and its performances/results for different possible configurations. A software simulator has been developed for this purpose. The simulator includes the possibility to generate synthetic 2-D penumbra profile maps or analyze measured profiles and run different versions of the retrieving algorithms, including the "on-board" version. In order to import the "as-built" algorithms, the software is coded using Matlab. The main aspects of the simulator, such as the results of the simulations, with the inclusion of some specific case studies, will be reported and discussed in this paper.

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The in-flight calibration procedures of the Shadow Position Sensors (SPS), a very accurate optical metrology system of the ESA/PROBA-3 formation flying mission

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Architectures and Synchronization Techniques for Distributed Satellite Systems: A Survey

Architectures and Synchronization Techniques for Distributed Satellite Systems: A Survey

Laboratory testbed for the calibration and the validation of the shadow position sensor subsystem of the PROBA3 ESA mission

Formation flying performances simulator for the shadow position sensors of the ESA PROBA-3 mission

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