小卫星的创举——“立方体”纳星

纳型卫星在上个世纪也有所发展，但应用上大部停留在简单空间飞行实验，用处很有限，皮星更多是作为一种概念性存在，主要为教学与筒单元部件实验服务。随着“立方体”纳星的诞生，小卫星应用如同“井喷”迅猛发展。     

立方体纳卫星的发展及其启示

介绍了立方体纳卫星的发展概况;对“震动卫星”、Cute系列、“加拿大先进纳太空实验”卫星和Coral卫星平台等典型项目进行了分析,重点对立方体纳卫星的任务、姿态与轨道控制、电源系统、通信系统、星载综合电子和可靠性等方面进行了总结。结合立方体纳卫星快速发展的原因,提出了以下建议：结合在轨服务、深空探测和新技术空间飞行演示试验等应用需求,发展微电子技术、微机电系统技术的航天应用、微卫星平台技术和标准化辅载荷发射接口技术。     

三单元立方体卫星的结构特性分析

立方体卫星凭借着其质轻、体积小、灵活性强等特点得到了快速发展。文章以南京理工大学研制的三单元立方体卫星为研究对象,采用有限元法对其结构进行仿真计算,验证了整星模态频率满足刚度要求。基于仿真结果对PVC板进行了合理的改进,结果显示立方体卫星3个方向的一阶频率分别提高了36.8%、14.4%和36.3%,同时改善了PVC板的振动特性,为后续整星振动试验的开展及其他立方体卫星的结构设计提供了参考依据。     

立方体卫星电源系统及关键技术

在对立方体卫星电源系统调研的基础上,介绍了国内外立方体卫星电源系统研制基本情况和立方体卫星电源系统的基本原理,结合当前航天器电源系统应用实际及立方体卫星技术特点,通过对比提炼,对立方体卫星电源系统关键技术进行了梳理分析,重点对供配电体制、结构拓扑、高功率密度实现、接口标准、系统功耗控制等关键技术进行了介绍,对各关键技术的特点、应用、研究状况、难点及主要实现途经等进行了分析。总结了立方体卫星电源系统发展趋势,指出了立方体卫星电源技术的发展重点,给出了立方体卫星电源系统发展建议。以上内容对立方体卫星电源系统的研制应用及发展,具有一定的参考价值。     

NASA选择33颗“立方体”卫星在2013--2014年发射

据美国抛物线网站2012年2月14日报道,NASA选择了33颗小卫星作为辅助有效载荷在2013年和2014年发射。这些提议的“立方体”卫星来自于全美的大学、无线电爱好者卫星公司、NASA中心和国防部的组织。“立方体”卫星是一种研究项目卫星,也称为纳卫星。     

用于海运和天气监测的“孤猴”卫星及其星座

<正>近十年来,立方体星的蓬勃发展及颠覆性创新应用带来预想不到的效益。2012年三名航天学院毕业生白手起家,创建了斯派尔全球(Spire Global)公司,开始研究和开发立方体星应用。由于研制项目具有创新和良好应用前景,该公司发展很快,目前已有700名员工,筹集1亿多美元资金。斯派尔全球公司位于美国旧金山郊区,目前正在致力于研制立方体星组成纳型卫星和覆盖全球星座,计划用5~6年时间创建一个由125颗卫星组成的大型星座,用于海运和天     

用于立方体卫星的高增益天线技术与发展趋势

随着MarCO与RainCube的成功在轨验证,立方体卫星已经在深空探测与遥感领域展现出独特的优势。立方体卫星搭载的天线不仅需要提供良好的辐射特性,还必须满足立方体卫星苛刻的体积和重量限制,这种限制条件在设计大口径高增益天线时尤为重要。首先简要介绍了立方体卫星的起源、发展及其应用前景,其次重点介绍了立方体卫星高增益天线的技术特点、研究现状及其在轨验证情况,最后归纳总结了立方体卫星高增益天线技术的未来发展趋势,为我国后续开展立方体卫星研究与应用提供参考。     

立方体卫星制动帆装置离轨时间分析

为了避免立方体卫星(CubeSat)失效后成为空间碎片,在立方体卫星寿命末期应采用低成本制动帆装置使其快速脱离轨道,从而减少对低地球轨道(LEO)航天器碰撞和损坏的威胁。文章建立了立方体卫星离轨的数学模型,得到立方体卫星离轨时间的影响因素分别为立方体卫星面质比、轨道高度和发射日期。应用实例仿真分析上述3种影响因素对离轨时间的影响,结果表明:随着立方体卫星面质比的增加,离轨时间不断减少;轨道高度越高,离轨时间越长;发射日期不同,离轨时间也存在较大的差异,在太阳活动峰年时离轨时间短,在太阳活动低年时离轨时间长。根据分析结果,对于3U立方体卫星而言,制动帆面积可设计为4m~2。     

两星一地时差定位方法性能分析

针对同轨多星定位系统以及高低轨联合定位系统需要卫星数量多的特点,设想地面站和卫星联合定位体制。考虑到时差定位体制对卫星运动不敏感的特征,提出一星三地和两星一地2种定位体制,从定位场景、定位原理、理论定位误差和误差分布4个方面对定位效能分析。重点论述了两星一地时差定位误差的地理分布、时间分布以及受高度的影响,对将来的工程化应用提供支撑。     

基于STK的星敏感器在轨视场仿真分析

针对星敏感器在轨可能会受到太阳光、地气光等杂光干扰而影响其测量精度及姿态有效率等问题,对星敏感器的在轨视场进行了分析研究。给出了太阳光、地气光进入星敏感器视场的条件;基于卫星工具包(STK)软件,提出了一种星敏感器视场分析的仿真方法;结合卫星轨道参数和星敏感器安装方位,在卫星零姿态、正负向侧摆下对杂光进入星敏感器视场情况进行了仿真。结果表明,卫星在轨至少有2个星敏感器在同一时刻满足杂光抑制角要求。文章提出的仿真方法,适用于对任何轨道类型卫星星敏感器在轨视场的杂光分析,仿真结果对星敏感器在卫星上的优化安装具有工程应用价值。     

Inflatable antenna for cubesats: Motivation for development and antenna design

CubeSats and small satellites have potential to provide means to explore space and to perform science in a more affordable way. As the goals for these spacecraft become more ambitious in space exploration, moving from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) or further, the communication systems currently implemented will not be able to support those missions. One of the bottlenecks in small spacecraft communication systems is represented by antennas' size, due to the close relation between antenna gain and dimensions. Current antennas for CubeSats are mostly dipole or patch antennas with limited gain. Deployable (not inflatable) antennas for CubeSats are currently being investigated, but these solutions are affected by the challenge of packaging the whole deployable structure in a small spacecraft.The work that we propose represents the first attempt to develop an inflatable antenna for CubeSats. Inflatable structures and antennas can be packaged efficiently occupying a small amount of space, and they can provide, once deployed, large dish dimension and correspondent gain. Inflatable antennas have been previously tested in space (Inflatable Antenna Experiment, STS-77). However they have never been developed for small spacecraft such as CubeSats, where the packaging efficiency, the deployment, and the inflation represent a challenge.Our study explores for the first time the possibility of developing such antenna in a way compatible with CubeSat dimensions and constraints. The research provides answers on the possible dimensions for an inflatable antenna for small satellites, on the gain and resolution that can be achieved, and on the deployment and inflation mechanism compatible with CubeSat. Future work in the development of the antenna will include the test of the antenna in flight during a specific technical demonstration mission.The article is structured as follows: context and motivation for Cubesat inflatable antenna are described; then a study to design the antenna which achieves the required performance metrics, while respecting the constraints imposed by CubeSat structure, is presented.     

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.     

ΔDsat,a QB50 CubeSat mission to study rarefied-gas drag modelling

A CubeSat mission to study the impact of flow incidence angle, surface material and surface roughness on gas–surface interactions on spacecraft in low Earth orbits has been designed. To accomplish this scientific goal the CubeSat deploys a variable geometry aerofoil capable of exposing different surfaces to the flow at different incident angles. By using the on-board GPS measurements and an orbit determination technique the drag experienced by the CubeSat can be estimated. The CubeSat has been designed to be part of the QB50 mission, and hence it carries a sensor that can take in-situ measurements of the atmosphere. This is then used to estimate the atmospheric density and hence to extract information on the drag coefficient. To minimise any bias present in the measurement chain a differential approach is used. Therefore no absolute drag coefficients are estimated, instead, ratios of drag coefficients are computed. This allows direct comparisons of the drag coefficients of different materials, different surface roughness or different incident angles. Simulations indicate that this CubeSat mission will be able to obtain drag coefficient ratios with an uncertainty level of less than 5%.     

SLUCUBE: Innovative high performance nanosatellite science and technology demonstration mission

The Space Systems Research Laboratory (SSRL) at Saint Louis University is developing SLUCUBE nanosatellite as part of the space mission design program. The objective of the mission is to demonstrate space capability of high performance nanosatellite components that has been developed at SSRL for the past three years. The objective of the program is to provide extremely low-cost and rapid access to space for scientists and commercial exploitation using commercial-off-the-shelf components. SLUCUBE is a double CubeSat with dimensions 10×10×20 cm and a mass of 2 kg. This nanosatellite features suite of technology demonstration components to enlarge the capability of space mission for such class of spacecrafts. The primary mission of SLUCUBE is to test and demonstrate several enabling technologies by flying a number of university developed high performance components. This paper describes the new developed technologies by providing details of specific components developed along with the R&D efforts and laboratory facilities. A brief discussion about the student involvement and educational benefits will also be presented.     

甚小型卫星发展综述

介绍了立方星(CubeSat)、片上卫星(SpaceChip)、印制电路板卫星(PCBSat)、多芯片组件卫星(MCMSat)4种甚小型卫星的发展情况和技术特点。CubeSat技术最为成熟,已发射多颗此类卫星,但体积固定,成本较高;SpaceChip是卫星小型化的最终目标,它成本最低,集成度最高,体积最小,但通信距离较短;PCBSat的成本和性能居中,设计复杂度低,且元器件有商用现货供应,但功耗较大;MCMSat综合了PCBSat和SpaceChip的技术特点,技术复杂。我国甚小型卫星可选择优先发展PCBSat;重点突破商用现货元器件的筛选,以及空间应用技术、一体化姿态控制技术、新型微推进技术、轻型高效的蓄电池和太阳电池技术等。     

应用于立方星的剪叉式可展开太阳电池阵机构

立方星在轨任务期间的能源供给主要依靠蓄电池或体装太阳能电池阵。随着微小航天器技术的发展,立方星功能密度越来越大,星上载荷对功率的需求越来越高,传统的电池板供能方式已很难满足未来空间任务需求。另外,立方星因其特有的尺寸规范和标准,对电池阵的收纳尺寸和展开机构也有特殊应用需求。基于上述背景和立方星的结构特点,设计了一种展开原理简单、扩展性好、折展比大的一维剪叉式空间可展开机构,进行了原理样机的加工制造和地面展开试验,验证了机构设计的功能可行性以及设计参数的合理性。机构展开后阵列发电功率是传统供能方式的3~5倍,且特殊的几何外形可提供被动重力梯度稳定优势,在提升未来立方星载荷能力方面有重要应用价值。     

翱翔系列立方星的发展和展望

针对西北工业大学“翱翔”系列立方星在低成本、短周期、快响应的立方星技术方面的突破，介绍了应用于大气层外偏振导航技术试验的世界首颗12U立方星“翱翔之星”，世界首次组网开展低热层大气参数测量的QB50计划“翱翔一号”立方星等，总结了“翱翔”系列立方星的标准化结构设计、姿态控制系统、电源系统、星载计算机、通信与测控、部署器等核心系统的发展现状，介绍了自主研制的飞轮、磁力矩器、偏振敏感器载荷。并基于在轨组装，编队飞行，一箭多星等技术对“翱翔”系列立方星的应用进行了展望，对探索柔性、高精度、长寿命的立方星将有重要的意义。