Micro- and mini-satellites of ISRO—technology and applications

With rich experience of the successful Indian remote sensing satellite series, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has started theme-based satellites like Resourcesat and Oceansat. Further taking the advantage of the improved technologies in areas of miniaturization, the micro- and mini-satellite series have been started, which will provide opportunity for the payloads of stand-alone missions, for applications, study or research. These include payloads for Earth imaging, atmospheric monitoring, ocean monitoring, scientific applications, and stellar observation. The micro-satellites are of 100 kg class, planned with a payload of about 30 kg and 20 W power and mini-satellites of 450 kg class for payloads of 200 kg and power of 200 W. The first satellite in the micro-satellite series is an Earth imaging payload followed by the second satellite with scientific payloads with the participation of students. Further the scientific proposals for micro-satellites are under evaluation. Similarly the first two missions of mini-satellites are defined with first one carrying ocean and environment monitoring payloads followed by the Earth imaging satellite with multi-spectral camera with 700 km swath. The current paper touches upon the technology involved in realization of the micro- and mini-satellites and the scope of applications of the series.     

A survey and assessment of the capabilities of Cubesats for Earth observation

In less than a decade, Cubesats have evolved from purely educational tools to a standard platform for technology demonstration and scientific instrumentation. The use of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) components and the ongoing miniaturization of several technologies have already led to scattered instances of missions with promising scientific value. Furthermore, advantages in terms of development cost and development time with respect to larger satellites, as well as the possibility of launching several dozens of Cubesats with a single rocket launch, have brought forth the potential for radically new mission architectures consisting of very large constellations or clusters of Cubesats. These architectures promise to combine the temporal resolution of GEO missions with the spatial resolution of LEO missions, thus breaking a traditional trade-off in Earth observation mission design. This paper assesses the current capabilities of Cubesats with respect to potential employment in Earth observation missions. A thorough review of Cubesat bus technology capabilities is performed, identifying potential limitations and their implications on 17 different Earth observation payload technologies. These results are matched to an exhaustive review of scientific requirements in the field of Earth observation, assessing the possibilities of Cubesats to cope with the requirements set for each one of 21 measurement categories. Based on this review, several Earth observation measurements are identified that can potentially be compatible with the current state-of-the-art of Cubesat technology although some of them have actually never been addressed by any Cubesat mission. Simultaneously, other measurements are identified which are unlikely to be performed by Cubesats in the next few years due to insuperable constraints. Ultimately, this paper is intended to supply a box of ideas for universities to design future Cubesat missions with high scientific payoff.     

Innovation and change? The evolution of Europe's small satellite manufacturers

Since the 1980s a trend has emerged to contain the cost of space missions, which has favored trials in the construction and launch of small satellites. This effort has considerably reduced the cost of the satellites because the construction process uses both traditional components and important technological innovations. There have also been market openings for small satellites, both within the telecommunication sector and for scientific missions and those related to Earth observation. This paper contains the results of a survey of the largest manufacturers of small satellites in Europe and investigates how far (if at all) they have changed the structure of the European space industry. It finds that, through the acquisition of small satellite manufacturers, traditional large companies operating in the field of space in Europe have secured for themselves important technological innovations and market opportunities, while maintaining their oligopolistic position.     

Fuel consumption and collision avoidance strategy in multi-static orbit formations

This paper analyses the fuel consumption of interferometric radar missions employing small satellite formations like, e.g., Cross-track Pendulum, Cartwheel, CarPe, or Trinodal Pendulum. Individual analytic expressions are provided for each of the following contributions: separation from a simultaneously injected master satellite, formation set-up, orbit maintenance, formation maintenance, and distance maintenance. For this, a general system of equations is derived describing the relative motion of the small satellites in a co-rotating reference frame. The transformation into Keplerian elements is carried out. To evaluate fuel consumption, three master satellites are assumed in different orbital heights, which are typical for Earth observation missions. The size of the exemplarily analysed formations is defined by remote sensing aspects and their respective fuel requirements are estimated. Furthermore, a collision avoidance concept is introduced, which includes a formation separation and formation set-up after a desired time period.     

敏捷成像卫星自主调度技术综述

针对现代卫星载荷能力与机动能力不断提升以及卫星任务需求多样化与复杂化程度持续增加的现状，阐述了敏捷成像卫星调度问题的基本特征，给出了敏捷成像卫星调度问题的一般化描述方法。在此基础上，分别从自主感知、自主决策和自主协同三个方面梳理了国内外敏捷卫星自主调度关键技术的研究进展。最后，面向未来卫星技术发展需求，指出了敏捷成像卫星自主调度技术进一步的研究方向。     

Cost-driven design of small satellite remote sensing systems*

Earth remote sensing (alongside communications) is one of the key application of Earth-orbiting satellites. Civilian satellites in the LANDSAT and SPOT series provide Earth images which have been used for a vast spectrum of applications in agriculture, meteorology, hydrology, urban planning and geology, to name but a few. In the defence sector, satellite remote sensing systems are a critical tool in strategic and tactical planning – for the countries which can afford them. To date, remote sensing satellites have fallen into one of these two categories: military missions driven by the requirement for very high resolution and orbital agility; and multipurpose civil satellites using general purpose sensors to serve a diverse community of end users. For military-style missions, the drive to high resolution sets the requirements for optics, attitude control and downlink data bandwidth. For civil missions, the requirement to satisfy multiple, diverse user applications forces compromises on spectral band and orbit selection. Although there are exceptions, many small satellite remote sensing missions carry on in this tradition, concentrating on ultra high resolution products for multiple user communities. This results in satellites costing on the order of US $100 M, not optimised for any particular application. This paper explores an alternative path to satellite remote sensing, aiming simultaneously to reduce cost and to optimise imaging products for specific applications. By decreasing the cost of the remote sensing satellite system to a critical point, it becomes appropriate to optimise the sensor's spectral and temporal characteristics to fit the requirements of a small, specialised user base. The critical engineering trade-off faced in a cost driven mission is how to reduce mission cost while still delivering a useful product to the selected user. At the Surrey Space Centre, we have pursued an engineering path using two dimensional CCD array sensors, commercial off-the-shelf lenses and gravity-gradient stabilised microsatellites. In spite of the inherent limitations of such systems, recent successes with the Thai Microsatellite Company's Thai-Phutt satellite show that a system costing in the region of US $3 million, can approach the spectral and spatial characteristics of LANDSAT. Surrey's UoSAT-12 minisatellite (to be launched April, 1999) will further develop this cost-driven approach to provide 10 m panchromatic resolution and 30 m multi-spectral resolution. This paper describes the Thai-Phutt and UoSAT-12 imaging systems, explaining the engineering methods and trade-offs. Although Surrey is presently the only centre presently pursuing such implementations, our paper shows that they deserve wider consideration.     

静电加速度计对重力卫星平台的要求分析

静电加速度计是重力卫星的核心有效载荷,其非保守力测量精度是地球重力场反演任务成功执行的有效保证。文章分析了静电加速度计的测量信号以及对重力卫星平台的指标要求,重点指出满足这些要求应解决的关键技术,最后建议我国开展重力卫星研究。     

Queuing theory application in imaging service analysis for small Earth observation satellites

The performance of Earth observation satellites is usually analyzed by real data or system simulation, which is accurate but not systematic. Modelling satellite service systems with queueing theory and analysing the performance statistics systematically will provide a useful guide in designing satellite systems. Earth observation satellites could be regarded as a two tandem server system with a finite buffer in between, providing two-stage service: image capture and image download service. In this paper, we introduce the queueing models for different service systems: the pure image capture service system, the two-stage service system with Poisson distribution download service, the pure download service system, and the two-stage system with general download service. Formulated solutions are given and some results are shown. From this work we can see queueing theory provides a good way to analyse the performance of small earth observation satellites, which is useful for system mission analysis and optimisation in design stage.     

Erdbeobachtende missionen—Anforderungen und konzepte

(Earth Observation Missions—Requirements and Concepts)—Ten years ago, on 23 July 1972. NASA launched the first satellite specifically designed for Earth observation. With Landsat 1 the importance and attractiveness of remote sensing from space increased worldwide.The paper presents in an overview former remote sensing missions with their applications and the system elements required for gathering Earth observation information. Main elements are the sensors (optical, microwave, and other instruments), the platforms (satellites, space stations, aircraft and Earth based stations) and their orbits.It is shown how these elements are interrelated and which constraints must be considered for planning an Earth observation mission. The feasibility, the amount of hard- and software, the costs, and the performance of a system are decisive for the realization of a satellite concept.Examples for different concepts investigated to date at Dornier System are given; included is the first ESA Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1, which is now under definition at Dornier System, the main contractor of ESA.     

The enigma of small satellites for earth observation

Small satellites have captured a continuously increasing share of the market in the fields of science, technology and recently also in the telecommunications and Earth observation areas. User requirements and market opportunities for space based satellite systems for Earth observation products have grown substantially in the past decade. Criteria for the utilization of different classes of satellite systems (small and large) and analogies to developments in other areas, e.g. the telecommunications field are discussed. The end to end character of service and product oriented systems as key criteria for market success in the scientific, applications and commercial areas is underlined. Recent developments in the global change, the Earth observation applications and commercial sectors are reviewed and compared. Opportunities for small satellites in the field are related to technology advancements, cost reduction options, and progress in the state of the art in system design.     

Small satellite's role in future hyperspectral Earth observation missions

Along with various advanced satellite onboard sensors, an important place in the near future will belong to hyperspectral instruments, considered as suitable for different scientific, commercial and military missions. As was demonstrated over the last decade, hyperspectral Earth observations can be provided by small satellites at considerably lower costs and shorter timescales, even though with some limitations on resolution, spectral response, and data rate. In this work the requirements on small satellites with imaging hyperspectral sensors are studied. Physical and technological limitations of hyperspectral imagers are considered. A mathematical model of a small satellite with a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer system is developed. The ability of the small satellites of different subclasses (micro- and mini-) to obtain hyperspectral images with a given resolution and quality is examined. As a result of the feasibility analysis, the constraints on the main technical parameters of hyperspectral instruments suitable for application onboard the small satellites are outlined. Comparison of the data for designed and planned instruments with simulation results validates the presented approach to the estimation of the small satellite size limitations. Presented analysis was carried out for sensors with conventional filled aperture optics.     

SSETO—Small Satellite for Exoplanetary Transit Observation

SSETO is the result of a phase-A study in context of the small satellite program of the University of Stuttgart that demonstrates the capability of a university institute to build a small satellite with a budget of 5 million Euro. The satellite will be capable of observing exoplanets in a Neptune–Earth scale and obtaining data of interstellar dust. Due to a system failure of NASA?s Kepler mission, there is currently (October 2013) a lack of satellites searching for exoplanets. This paper details the design of subsystems and payload, as well as the required test tasks in accordance with the mission profile at a conceptional level. The costs for standard spacecraft testing and integration tasks are included, but not those of launch, ground support, operations and engineer working hours.     

国外空间环境试验与探测技术现状与发展趋势

文章分析了与航天器飞行有关的4类空间环境的特点;介绍了国外空间环境试验技术的现状与发展概况。文章还重点分析了未来空间环境探测的发展趋势:加强了对空间环境动态变化的探测;将星座探测摆在重要地位;以地球轨道卫星为发展的主流;利用卫星加大对空间环境探测的力度;加强国际合作。国外空间环境探测的经验表明,我国应重视发展地球轨道探测卫星,尽快提高卫星有效载荷的水平。     

Rapid model-based inter-disciplinary design of a CubeSat mission

With an increase in the use of small, modular, resource-limited satellites for Earth orbiting applications, the benefit to be had from a model-based architecture that rapidly searches the mission trade-space and identifies near-optimal designs is greater than ever. This work presents an architecture that identifies trends between conflicting objectives (e.g. lifecycle cost and performance) and decision variables (e.g. orbit altitude and inclination) such that informed assessment can be made as to which design/s to take on for further analysis. The models within the architecture exploit analytic methods where possible, in order avoid computationally expensive numerical propagation, and achieve rapid convergence. Two mission cases are studied; the first is an Earth observation satellite and presents a trade-off between ground sample distance and revisit time over a ground target, given altitude as the decision variable. The second is a satellite with a generic scientific payload and shows a more involved trade-off, between data return to a ground station and cost of the mission, given variations in the orbit altitude, inclination and ground station latitude. Results of each case are presented graphically and it is clear that non-intuitive results are captured that would typically be missed using traditional, point-design methods, where only discrete scenarios are examined.     

通信卫星灵活载荷技术综述

通信卫星逐步由高轨地球同步轨道卫星向高、中、低轨结合的全球覆盖卫星方向发展,多业务和多重覆盖的发展趋势对通信卫星的灵活性提出了更高的要求。通信卫星配备灵活载荷已经成为重要发展方向,对面向个人用户的高通量通信卫星及高、中、低轨结合的组网通信卫星来说尤为重要。配备灵活载荷的通信卫星能实现端到端业务,能灵活调整覆盖区,实现灵活组网,并提升资源利用率。分析了国内外通信卫星灵活载荷的发展动态,介绍了通信卫星灵活载荷的技术特点,并给出了有效载荷方案,最后阐述了通信卫星灵活载荷发展的关键技术及发展思路。     

The IRS-P3 remote sensing mission

ISRO has developed the PSLV rocket (Polar Spacecraft Launch Vehicle) for polar orbiting satellites up to 1000 kg and is conducting a series of test missions. One of this is the IRS-P3, an remote sensing satellite with German participation. The payload consists of 3 scientific instruments: The wide field sensor WiFS for vegetation monitoring (ISRO), the imaging spectrometer MOS (DLR/Germany) for coastal zone and ocean studies an the X-ray astronomy payload (ISRO). The paper gives technical details and parameters on the launch vehicle, the satellite, the instruments and scientific goals and data utilization.     

Low cost planetary exploration: surrey lunar minisatellite and interplanetary platform missions

In order to meet the growing global requirement for affordable missions beyond Low Earth Orbit, two types of platform are under design at the Surrey Space Centre. The first platform is a derivative of Surrey's UoSAT-12 minisatellite, launched in April 1999 and operating successfully in-orbit. The minisatellite has been modified to accommodate a propulsion system capable of delivering up to 1700 m/s delta-V, enabling it to support a wide range of very low cost missions to LaGrange points, Near-Earth Objects, and the Moon. A mission to the Moon - dubbed “MoonShine” - is proposed as the first demonstration of the modified minisatellite beyond LEO. The second platform - Surrey's Interplanetary Platform - has been designed to support missions with delta-V requirements up to 3200 m/s, making it ideal for low cost missions to Mars and Venus, as well as Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and other interplanetary trajectories. Analysis has proved mission feasibility, identifying key challenges in both missions for developing cost-effective techniques for: spacecraft propulsion; navigation; autonomous operations; and a reliable safe mode strategy. To reduce mission risk, inherently failure resistant lunar and interplanetary trajectories are under study. In order to significantly reduce cost and increase reliability, both platforms can communicate with low-cost ground stations and exploit Surrey's experience in autonomous operations. The lunar minisatellite can provide up to 70 kg payload margin in lunar orbit for a total mission cost US$16–25 M. The interplanetary platform can deliver 20 kg of scientific payload to Mars or Venus orbit for a mission cost US$25–50 M. Together, the platforms will enable regular flight of payloads to the Moon and interplanetary space at unprecedented low cost. This paper outlines key systems engineering issues for the proposed Lunar Minisatellite and interplanetary Platform Missions, and describes the accommodation and performance offered to planetary payloads.     

WorldView系列卫星设计状态分析与启示

WorldView 系列卫星是目前世界商业卫星中分辨率较高的光学遥感卫星。文章从卫星总体设计角度介绍了WorldView 系列卫星技术指标,分析了卫星敏捷机动工作能力、构形布局设计、平台和载荷一体化设计和微振动抑制设计等,梳理出国外先进遥感卫星的发展趋势,以此为基础提出了对我国新一代光学遥感卫星的设计启示。     

Mature systems for small satellite missions

Over the past several years Satellites International has developed an integrated suite of satellite sub-systems and small satellite buses. The sub-systems include S-band communications, attitude sensing and control, power conversion and distribution, and on-board data handling. They are inherently modular and readily adaptable to different satellite configurations, a concept known as semi-standardisation. This concept has been adopted by two generic low-cost buses: MicroSIL for satellites in the mass range 40–80kg; and MiniSIL for satellites in the range 100–500kg. Their architecture is based on the semi-standard sub-systems, but easily modified to utilise sub-systems from other manufacturers. They can support all stabilisation methods including spinning, 3-axis control and gravity gradient and are adaptable to a wide variety of missions including Earth resources, scientific, communications and technology demonstration. The Company also manufactures a range of low cost ground support equipment and complete ground stations to complement the space-borne systems.