The message and the experience of the site project

The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was a unique effort aimed at studying the possibilities of satellite broadcasting for education and national development. This one-year joint India-USA project was carried out in 1975–1976 using the ATS-6 spacecraft. This paper briefly describes the experiment and its major findings. It goes on to distill the learning experiences derived from SITE and analyses the extent to which these have influenced the design and configuration of India's domestic satellite system, INSAT. INSAT-1B, which will serve as a replacement for the short-lived INSAT-1A, will be launched shortly and will be operational by the end of 1983. Its payload includes two S-band TV transponders capable of broadcasting directly to augmented TV sets. The paper examines which lessons of SITE are being applied in the planning and operationalisation of the TV system and discusses why others are not being taken account of. Major issues confronting TV system planners in developing countries like India are highlighted and the possible role of satellite broadcasting discussed in this context. The paper concludes by outlining an “ideal scenario” for a large, multilingual country like India, towards which TV planners could attempt to strive.     

Optimization of transfer trajectories to the Apophis asteroid for spacecraft with high and low thrust

The problem of optimization of a spacecraft transfer to the Apophis asteroid is investigated. The scheme of transfer under analysis includes a geocentric stage of boosting the spacecraft with high thrust, a heliocentric stage of control by a low thrust engine, and a stage of deceleration with injection to an orbit of the asteroid’s satellite. In doing this, the problem of optimal control is solved for cases of ideal and piecewise-constant low thrust, and the optimal magnitude and direction of spacecraft’s hyperbolic velocity “at infinity” during departure from the Earth are determined. The spacecraft trajectories are found based on a specially developed comprehensive method of optimization. This method combines the method of dynamic programming at the first stage of analysis and the Pontryagin maximum principle at the concluding stage, together with the parameter continuation method. The estimates are obtained for the spacecraft’s final mass and for the payload mass that can be delivered to the asteroid using the Soyuz-Fregat carrier launcher.     

Designing nonuniform satellite systems for continuous global coverage using equatorial and polar circular orbits

We present a method for designing nonuniform satellite systems for continuous global coverage using a combination of equatorial and near-polar satellite segments in circular orbits. Equations are derived to determine the basic design parameters of the satellite system itself and the conditions of its closure at the joint of near-polar and equatorial segments. We analyze specific features of near-polar and equatorial satellite systems and their advantages and disadvantages compared with existing classes of near-polar phased and kinematically correct satellite systems. We estimate the minimum required number of spacecrafts in satellite systems for a given fold of coverage and present calculated dependences for classes of near-polar phased and equatorial satellite systems with different types of closure. For the class of kinematically correct satellite systems, we analyze the characteristics of systems with a minimum spacecraft flight height and reveal that the number of satellites in the orbital plane depends on the flight height for different folds of coverage. We bring examples of the best near-polar equatorial satellite systems of global coverage for different folds and a class of satellite systems with a fixed number of spacecrafts and orbital planes in them.     

航天器在轨释放安全性分析与仿真研究

针对航天器舱内在轨释放任务,文章建立了大型航天器与伴随卫星的动力学模型和运动学模型,并分析了影响释放安全性的主要因素;从保证航天器在轨安全的角度,得到描述释放安全性的最小相对距离计算方法,并利用ADAMS软件对航天器在轨释放过程进行了仿真研究。     

Cansat suborbital launch experiment-university educational space program using can sized pico-satellite

Our laboratory is proceeding with a project to design and fabricate a nano satellite named “Gekkabijin” as “CanSat” project. This project was agreed at USSS'98 as a Japan-U.S. joint venture to make satellites for educational purpose. CanSat is, as can be imaged from the name, a Coke can shaped and sized satellite. Our CanSat “Gekkabijin” was designed to deploy a thin flexible membrane using centrifugal force. Before we can launch a CanSat into space, we had a chance to put it into sub-orbit with a support from a U.S. amateur rocket group in the name of ARLISS Project. ARLISS Project has already taken place twice in 1999 and 2000 and we carried out 6 missions. This paper describes the objectives, satellite design, experiment results and lessons learned of University of Tokyo CanSat Project.     

Health scorecard of spacecraft platforms: Track record of on-orbit anomalies and failures and preliminary comparative analysis

Choosing the “right” satellite platform for a given market and mission requirements is a major investment decision for a satellite operator. With a variety of platforms available on the market from different manufacturers, and multiple offerings from the same manufacturer, the down-selection process can be quite involved. In addition, because data for on-obit failures and anomalies per platform is unavailable, incomplete, or fragmented, it is difficult to compare options and make an informed choice with respect to the critical attribute of field reliability of different platforms. In this work, we first survey a large number of geosynchronous satellite platforms by the major satellite manufacturers, and we provide a brief overview of their technical characteristics, timeline of introduction, and number of units launched. We then analyze an extensive database of satellite failures and anomalies, and develop for each platform a “health scorecard” that includes all the minor and major anomalies, and complete failures—that is failure events of different severities—observed on-orbit for each platform. We identify the subsystems that drive these failure events and how much each subsystem contributes to these events for each platform. In addition, we provide the percentage of units in each platform which have experienced failure events, and, after calculating the total number of years logged on-orbit by each platform, we compute its corresponding average failure and anomaly rate. We conclude this work with a preliminary comparative analysis of the health scorecards of different platforms.The concept of a “health scorecard” here introduced provides a useful snapshot of the failure and anomaly track record of a spacecraft platform on orbit. As such, it constitutes a useful and transparent benchmark that can be used by satellite operators to inform their acquisition choices (“inform” not “base” as other considerations are factored in when comparing different spacecraft platforms), and by satellite manufacturers to guide their testing and reliability improvement programs. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that these health scorecards should be considered dynamic documents to be updated on a regular basis if they are to remain accurate and relevant for comparative analysis purposes, as new information will impact their content.     

我国航天器带电技术研究进展

航天器与空间带电粒子环境相互作用引起的带电现象是其在轨发生故障和异常的重要因素。近年来,随着航天器性能的提升和技术发展,航天器带电技术研究的范围也大大扩展。文章简要回顾了我国航天器带电技术发展的历史,并从理论研究、地面模拟试验、数值模拟和带电防护等方面介绍国内航天器带电技术研究的进展。     

20世纪上海航天器电源技术的进展

较为系统地介绍了作为航天器电源的锌银电池组和硅太阳电池阵／镉镍蓄电池组联合供电系统的组成、主要性能参数及其技术特点。阐述了近半个世纪以来，上海航天技术研究院在航天器电源研制技术方面所取得的成就及其在国内卫星、飞船和国外卫星领域的应用情况。指出了航天器电源技术今后的发展方向。     

电推进航天器的特殊环境及其影响

文章介绍了应用离子和霍耳电推进系统在航天器周围产生的等离子体和电磁场等特殊环境,讨论了这些特殊环境对航天器各分系统或部件产生的溅射腐蚀、沉积污染、充放电、等离子体干扰、碰撞动力学扰动等影响效应,探讨了研究电推进与航天器相互作用效应的地面试验技术、空间飞行试验技术和模型分析技术,介绍了离子电推进系统与航天器相容性分析评价的技术要点。     

低地球轨道航天器对接放电研究

文章介绍了低轨道航天器对接放电的产生机理,通过模拟试验、电路仿真和理论分析,研究了低轨道航天器对接产生静电放电的可能性、条件、放电强度、持续时间及其影响,并提出防止静电放电危害的措施,为工程应用提出参考建议。     

地球同步轨道卫星编队飞行的区域性导航系统方案

卫星编队飞行组成虚拟平台 ,这是当前一个完全崭新和开拓性的研究课题。根据与时俱进 ,开拓创新的精神 ,本文提出一个地球同步轨道卫星编队飞行组成的区域性导航系统方案。这是至今为止在相同精度和相同覆盖区条件下卫星数量最少的 ,也是投资经费最低的导航系统方案     

尾迹对卫星周围等离子体扰动特性分析

卫星充电和尾迹效应会对周围的等离子体造成扰动,进而影响星上电磁和等离子测量 载荷的测量精度。利用卫星与等离子体相互作用模拟软件SPIS,并采用DEMETER卫星的 一组在轨测试的等离子参数,采用粒子分室法模拟了低轨道卫星的尾迹效应特性。结果显示 ,卫星的表面充电电位为-0.72 V,负的充电电位一定程度上减小了尾迹效应的影响,尾 迹效应对等离子体的扰动在尾迹一侧约为2.5 m,离子撞击侧约为0.7 m,其余两个 侧面约为1.1 m,即等离子鞘层呈桃形分布,且在尾迹区存在离子浓度为零的空白区和 浓度较小的稀薄区,而在尾迹区也是电子浓度的稀薄区,但不存在电子浓度为零的空白区。
     

The Use of a Solar Electrojet Propulsion System for Jupiter Satellite Injection

The problem of optimization of the interplanetary trajectory of flight for a multistage spacecraft with high- and low-thrust engines into the Jupiter satellite orbit is considered. Low-thrust engines (stationary plasma engines) are used on a heliocentric flight segment. Their operation is maintained with electric power supply from solar batteries. The principal feasibility of the realization of such a project is shown, and estimations of the mass of a spacecraft placed into Jupiter's satellite orbit are presented.     

脉冲等离子体源控制航天器表面充电电位的研究

在空间环境运行的航天器存在表面充电现象,而航天器表面充电引发的静电放电是导致航天器异常及故障的重要原因之一。因此,在航天器设计和应用中,必须对航天器表面电位采取必要的控制和防护措施。文章介绍了用脉冲等离子体源进行航天器表面充电电位主动控制的研究。通过模拟实验和实验数据分析,证实了用脉冲等离子体源能有效地控制航天器表面充...     

近地轨道大型航天器的环境充电

许多空间实验和电子计算机预测已经揭示，在极光电子环境中大型航天器的充电电位会高达６０００－－７０００Ｖ。对采用大功率太阳阵的航天器而言，其相对于空间等离子体的悬浮电位将因太阳阵工作电压的提高而增加。例如表面材料因遭受离子轰击和电弧放电而老化、剥蚀、由于材料再沉积而使表面污染增加以及航天器电子系统因静电放电而受到严重的干扰和破坏等。因而对载人航天和长寿命空间站而言，解决航天器带电问题不可等闲视之。对     

空间次生环境研究及探测方法概述

文章基于空间次生环境及其效应定义,分别结合不同次生环境阐述了国内外在磁场作用下带电粒子对航天器的影响、航天器非金属材料出气的影响、航天器与空间等离子体相互作用影响、航天器发动机羽流效应和航天器舱内电子环境及效应等的研究状况,并有针对性地开展了典型的发动机羽流效应、放电监测系统和航天器自身磁场分布探测研究。     

计入带电粒子入射角度对次级电子效应影响时航天飞行器的带电特性

本文采用由实验得到的带电粒子入射角度对次级电子的影响关系,根据轨道限制电流收集理论,导出了不同几何形体航天器的次级电子数通量表达式;并按局部电流平衡模型,计算了航天器背阴面的带电电位。结果表明,计入带电粒子入射角的影响后,航天器表面负电位的数值有一定减少。因此,在计算航天器表面带电时,应当考虑这种影响。     

某型号真空热试验污染问题排查及对策解析

文章遵照航天型号对质量问题按"双五条"归零的要求,对某型号卫星真空热试验发生污染的问题进行仔细排查,找到了产生污染的原因,主要是由于加热带温度的失控导致了红外加热笼黑漆在真空高温环境下的挥发.随后通过问题复现验证了结论的正确性,从而制定了有效的措施.文章体现了型号质量问题从技术上"归零"的全过程.     

卫星内带电效应地面试验技术研究

内带电效应是导致航天器运行故障和异常的主要原因之一。文章针对卫星内带电效应研究中的地面模拟试验技术,着重介绍了介质辐射诱导电导率及相关参数的试验测量方法。基于电声脉冲法测量介质内部电场的原理,提供了一种验证内带电仿真计算的试验方法。     

航天器表面充电仿真计算和电位主动控制技术

文章运用等效电路理论推导出随时间变化充电问题的微分方程组,用FORTRAN语言开发了相应的计算机模拟程序,针对强地磁亚暴空间环境分析了地球同步轨道航天器在阴影区和光照区的充电水平。最后计算讨论了采用空心阴极等离子体接触器向航天器外发射电子束作为控制航天器充电水平手段的作用效果。