A multi-stage regulation strategy of space manipulators with a free-swinging joint failure

To ensure tasks can be completed after a free-swinging joint failure occurs, a multi-stage regulation strategy of space manipulators is proposed. Considering all terms of the dynamics equation, an evaluation model of the regulation ability (EMRA) of active joints over the fault joint is established based on the fuzzy entropy. And then a multi-stage regulation strategy based on the EMRA is designed to regulate the fault joint. The strategy divides the regulation process into several stages, and select a certain active joint to regulative the fault joint in every stage. With this multi-stage regulation strategy, the fault joint can be regulated to the desired angle without huge torque on regulative joints. The simulation is carried out with a 7-DOF space manipulator, verifying the correctness and effectiveness of the multi-stage regulation strategy. The strategy has three advantages: Coriolis and centrifugal terms are both considered for the first time in selecting the regulative joint, making the selection result more in line with the actual regulation process; The influence of the model uncertainty is eliminated in establishing the EMRA, making the evaluation of regulative ability more precise; The fault joint is successfully regulated to the desired angle without huge torque on regulative joints.     

Excavation of artificial caverns inside asteroids by leveraging rotational self-energy

Future space ventures will likely require exploitation of near-Earth asteroid resources. Moreover, it can be envisaged that asteroids may host habitats in their interiors. In fact, a cavern inside an asteroid would be a natural radiation shield against cosmic radiation and may also serve as a confined environment for storage of mined material such as water ice or other processed volatiles such as propellants. To this end, this paper proposes to leverage the asteroid rotational self-energy to remove material from the asteroid interiors and create a spherical cavern, by means of the orbital siphon concept. The siphon is a chain of tether-connected payload masses (the asteroid material), which exploits the rotation of the asteroid for the delivery of mass from the asteroid to escape. Under certain conditions the siphon can be initiated to ensure self-sustained flow of mass from the asteroid to escape. A net orbital siphon effect is generated by connecting new payloads at the bottom of the chain while releasing the upper payloads. Key parameters are discussed, such as the required siphon dimension and the maximum size of the internal cavity that can be excavated, as a function of the asteroid rotational period. Moreover, assuming elastic material behaviour, a closed-form expression for the stress tensor is found and a failure criterion is used to identify regions in the asteroid interiors subjected to the larger stresses. It is shown that the conditions for failure are relaxed as the radius of the internal void increases.     

Deorbiter CubeSat mission design

This paper presents the mission design for a CubeSat-based active debris removal approach intended for transferring sizable debris objects from low-Earth orbit to a deorbit altitude of 100 km. The mission consists of a mothership spacecraft that carries and deploys several debris-removing nanosatellites, called Deorbiter CubeSats. Each Deorbiter is designed based on the utilization of an eight-unit CubeSat form factor and commercially-available components with significant flight heritage. The mothership spacecraft delivers Deorbiter CubeSats to the vicinity of a predetermined target debris, through performing a long-range rendezvous maneuver. Through a formation flying maneuver, the mothership then performs in-situ measurements of debris shape and orbital state. Upon release from the mothership, each Deorbiter CubeSat proceeds to performing a rendezvous and attachment maneuver with a debris object. Once attached to the debris, the CubeSat performs a detumbling maneuver, by which the residual angular momentum of the CubeSat-debris system is dumped using Deorbiter’s onboard reaction wheels. After stabilizing the attitude motion of the combined Deorbiter-debris system, the CubeSat proceeds to performing a deorbiting maneuver, i.e., reducing system’s altitude so much so that the bodies disintegrate and burn up due to atmospheric drag, typically at around 100 km above the Earth surface. The attitude and orbital maneuvers that are planned for the mission are described, both for the mothership and Deorbiter CubeSat. The performance of each spacecraft during their operations is investigated, using the actual performance specifications of the onboard components. The viability of the proposed debris removal approach is discussed in light of the results.     

基于双滤波器的高精度目标跟踪估计方法

针对连续推力的合作航天器，采用双重无迹卡尔曼滤波(DUKF)算法估计其状态和加速度。通过状态滤波器和参数滤波器的配合，提升滤波精度，完成运动状态和参数的估计，从而实现合作目标的运动轨迹跟踪。与合作航天器相比，非合作航天器存在大小未知、发生时刻未知的机动，无法获得加速度，且信息获取和运动状态的估计难度大。针对非合作航天器，基于简化的相对运动方程，结合天基平台获得目标的观测信息，采用两个扩展卡尔曼滤波(EKF)及基于半正焦弦的机动检测策略实现多未知脉冲机动的运动状态的估计。仿真结果表明：相比于无迹卡尔曼滤波（UKF），DUKF在对合作航天器的状态和加速度估计方面具有更快的收敛速度和更高的滤波精度；对于存在未知机动的非合作航天器，通过对比验证机动检测策略与滤波器切换策略相结合的方法的有效性，该方法能够检测到多次机动并且减少误判。     

Assessment of the close approach frequency and collision probability for satellites in different configurations of large constellations

The Earth orbital environment is drastically changing due to an intensification of the space activities. In particular, several projects of large constellations, proposed for the next years for communications purpose like global internet access, Internet of Things, or for Earth observations, will lead to the deployment of several thousands of new satellites at an unprecedented rate. It is a crucial challenge for space traffic management, which will deal with a great number of satellite conjunctions, potentially causing a collision with damaging consequences for the constellation itself and the space environment sustainability.In this paper, we investigate the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability for each referenced constellation. For this purpose, we compute the orbital evolution of satellites in different constellations during the lifecycle, from the deployment to the decommissioning, and we apply the CUBE algorithm and the Foster method to assess the collision probability with the background space debris population assuming a constant uncertainty in position. We show the variation of risk defined by the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability as a function of the proposed configuration. In particular, satellites of the Iridium and Kuiper constellation, but also satellite of the Telesat constellation on polar orbits are the most exposed at a collision. Moreover, the decommissioning phase contribute for a major part to the final cumulative collision probability.     

中国空间探测领域40年发展

中国空间科学学会成立的40年，是中国空间探测逐渐走进世界舞台的40年，空间探测极大推动了空间科学和相邻学科的发展，也影响到经济、军事和日常生活诸多方面.本文简要回顾了从空间探测专业委员会成立的1980年至今，中国空间探测领域的主要发展历程，包括探空火箭、高空气球、科学卫星、月球与行星探测、载人航天空间探测、遥感卫星地面站等主要项目、进展和所取得的成果，对未来若干年空间探测的发展进行了展望.      

Packaging of thick membranes using a multi-spiral folding approach: Flat and curved surfaces

Elucidating versatile configurations of spiral folding, and investigating the deployment performance is of relevant interest to extend the applicability of deployable membranes towards large-scale and functional configurations.In this paper we propose new schemes to package flat and curved membranes of finite thickness by using multiple spirals, whose governing equations render folding lines by juxtaposing spirals and by accommodating membrane thickness. Our experiments using a set of topologically distinct flat and curved membranes deployed by tensile forces applied in the radial and circumferential directions have shown that (1) the multi-spiral approach with prismatic folding lines offered the improved deployment performance, and (2) the deployment of curved surfaces progresses rapidly within a finite load domain. Furthermore, we confirmed the high efficiency of membranes folded by multi-spiral patterns.From viewpoints of configuration and deployment performance, the multi-spiral approach is potential to extend the versatility and maneuverability of spiral folding mechanisms.     

Downsizing an orbital space robot: A dynamic system based evaluation

Small space robots have the potential to revolutionise space exploration by facilitating the on-orbit assembly of infrastructure, in shorter time scales, at reduced costs. Their commercial appeal will be further improved if such a system is also capable of performing on-orbit servicing missions, in line with the current drive to limit space debris and prolong the lifetime of satellites already in orbit. Whilst there have been a limited number of successful demonstrations of technologies capable of these on-orbit operations, the systems remain large and bespoke. The recent surge in small satellite technologies is changing the economics of space and in the near future, downsizing a space robot might become be a viable option with a host of benefits. This industry wide shift means some of the technologies for use with a downsized space robot, such as power and communication subsystems, now exist. However, there are still dynamic and control issues that need to be overcome before a downsized space robot can be capable of undertaking useful missions. This paper first outlines these issues, before analyzing the effect of downsizing a system on its operational capability. Therefore presenting the smallest controllable system such that the benefits of a small space robot can be achieved with current technologies. The sizing of the base spacecraft and manipulator are addressed here. The design presented consists of a 3 link, 6 degrees of freedom robotic manipulator mounted on a 12U form factor satellite. The feasibility of this 12U space robot was evaluated in simulation and the in-depth results presented here support the hypothesis that a small space robot is a viable solution for in-orbit operations.     

Maximal admissible mode decision delay in terminal guidance

Mode decision-maker is a critical component in the logic-based Integrated Estimation and Guidance(IEG) system. For the best possible estimation and guidance performance, the mode decision delay of the mode decision-maker should be limited to a range as small as possible. This paper presents a numerical method for computing the maximal admissible mode decision delay that varies with time-to-go. Particular attention has been paid to highly maneuvering target interception in terminal guidance. The results of this research offer useful guidelines for the design of the mode decision-maker in IEG systems.     

空间目标监视雷达信号频率的优选准则

随着在轨微小卫星及空间碎片数量不断增加，为保证在轨卫星的运行安全，需要对微小目标进行有效跟踪探测及稳定编目。雷达作为近地空间目标监视的主用设备，在对厘米级小目标进行探测跟踪时，其工作频率是决定其能否可靠探测关键因素，高频有利于探测小目标，并可获得相对稳定的RCS，但高频信号的波束小、搜索能力较低，实现难度大，也使得成本过高。为适于实际工程应用，需从效费比出发，对频率进行优选。本文从目标RCS的角度提出一种空间目标监视雷达信号频率的优选准则，给出该准则下周长波长比ka的取值范围。为了更加清楚地说明该优选准则的应用，给出了直径5 cm和10 cm的目标在该准则下信号频率的取值范围，并与国外工作做了比较，证明该准则可行。