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.     

微小卫星雷达隐身性能的在轨逆合成孔径雷达成像验证

成像雷达是空间目标监视系统中的重要组成部分.为深入评估某微小卫星的隐身性能,对卫星的逆合成孔径雷达(ISAR)成像效果进行预测,从雷达成像角度评估卫星的隐身效果.首先简述用于空间目标成像的ISAR成像的基本原理.然后构造卫星的散射点模型,散射系数采用微波暗室的实际测量值.依据仿真雷达系统参数和卫星实际在轨运行参数,计算卫星ISAR成像所需成像时间.对卫星3种飞行姿态,即卫星顶部指向地球表面的隐身姿态、卫星顶部与飞行方向一致和卫星底部指向地球表面两种非隐身姿态,以及不同信噪比情况,进行ISAR仿真,详细分析每种情况下的运动补偿效果和最终ISAR成像效果,说明了卫星隐身设计的有效性.     

微小卫星解锁分离装置主结构设计分析及优化

文章介绍了某小卫星包带式星箭解锁分离装置初样产品的设计方案,建立了该装置的有限元模型,并通过轴向压缩静力试验验证了该模型的有效性。卫星用质心处的集中质量点代替,对解锁分离装置进行了模态与静力分析,验证了其主结构设计的合理性,同时还具有较高的安全裕度和可优化空间。以卫星总质量为目标函数,解锁分离装置主结构各构件的壁厚为设计变量,并以初样产品的横向、轴向和扭转的基频以及其主结构强度满足设计要求为约束条件,进行了灵敏度分析和优化设计,优化后的解锁分离装置总质量减少了1.5 kg。     

三星编队星座星间相对状态自主确定

在星间无线电相对状态测量系统中,针对三星编队星座相对状态联合解算时观测方程的几何结构比较弱、法方程病态的情况,提出了基于部分参数加权平差的相对状态解算方法。首先给出三星编队星座系统相对状态解算的数学模型,然后比较了联合解算方法和部分参数加权平差方法,最后对仿真结果进行分析。分析结果表明,使用基于部分参数加权平差的相对状态解算方法能够自主确定三星编队星座的相对状态。