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.     

Earth observation and the public good

The term ‘public good’ is often used in satellite Earth observation to indicate that Earth observation data are of value or interest to the public. In fact, the term ‘public good’ has a more specific meaning, originating in the discipline of Economics, which carries with it a set of assumptions and implications about how markets operate. In this context a public good has two main characteristics: non-rivalry and non-excludability. In their most common digital format, Earth observation data can appear to be both non-rivalrous and non-excludable. However, it is not the digital medium itself which controls the ‘publicness’ of a good but the conditions of access to that good. This paper explores the meaning of the concept of public goods in an Earth observation context by, first, examining public good theory and related concepts of categories of goods and, second, applying the concepts to nine Earth observation missions, programmes and data.     

Earth observation data archiving in the USA and Europe

The growing number of Earth observation satellites are producing exponential increases in the amount of data produced. These data sets contain valuable information on the state of the environment to accurately monitor and predict the impact of global change. Global change investigations require access to long-term data. This paper is a review of the current archiving practices of NOAA, NASA, SPOT, ESA and the DLR. It is demonstrated that despite recognition at a regional and organisational level of the importance of data archiving much work remains to be done. Funding responsibility is identified as a particularly problematic area of data archiving: it is an issue along with the need for easy accessibility and adequate metadata that will need to be resolved to ensure that future generations have access to adequate Earth observation data archives.     

Estimation of Low-Frequency Microaccelerations Onboard an Artificial Earth Satellite in the Solar Orientation Mode

Cosmic Research - Low-frequency microaccelerations are studied onboard an artificial Earth satellite designed for microgravity investigations in a low, near-circular orbit. The satellite has the...     

Continuity of moderate resolution Earth observation data: is an international solution the answer?

The operation of the US Landsat-7, launched in 1999, has proved a marked success. Together with the earlier Landsat data stored at the US Geological Survey Earth Data Analysis Center and other centers around the world, Landsat 7 data constitute a powerful tool for analyzing changes in the Earth's surface. However, the continuity of the Landsat system is not assured. An international system in which other countries participate could provide a more robust system, while spreading the costs and benefits of supplying such data more broadly. This paper explores the potential for creating an international arrangement to supply data of moderate resolution and extensive coverage in order to contribute to planetary stewardship, and discusses several different implementation approaches.     

Inertially fixed pitch stabilization of satellites by solar radiation pressure

Utilization of solar radiation pressure to stabilize the pitch attitude of an unsymmetrical satellite along an inertially-fixed orientation is investigated. A controller employing two rotatable highly reflective control surfaces is proposed and a control strategy involving both nominal and feedback controls is synthesized. Accounting for the apparent annual motion of the Sun, the validity of the concept throughout the year is established through a stability analysis of the system. The influence of the Earth's shadow on the controller performance is also analyzed. The speed of response as well as the pointing accuracy capabilities of the system appear to be quite acceptable for long-life scientific missions.     

Telecommunications and the economic impact of communications satellites

This article provides several illustrations of the growing economic importance and scope of communications satellite service and discusses how rapid development of new telecommunications systems, particularly those that include communications satellite systems, serve as a major stimulant of economic growth. There is evidence that communications satellites are capable of making important economic contributions to developed and developing countries alike. The rapid proliferation of separate communications satellites, although stimulating economic growth, is giving rise to concerns about intersystem connectivity and saturation of the available radio frequencies in geosynchronous orbit. The growth of the communications satellite industry to an activity level of perhaps $10,000 million per annum by the mid-to-late-1980s could assist in the development of multipurpose space platforms that could minimize the problems created by satellite proliferation.     

Low cost orbit transfer of inoperative satellites by a service vehicle

Tumble Orbit Transfer, which is an effective method of re-orbiting inoperative satellites is described. This is done by an independent service vehicle equipped with a long arm and a grapple mechanism on top of it. After grappling the target satellite, the service vehicle orients its axis perpendicular to the orbit velocity vector. Then a thruster is activated to give an impulse on the service vehicle, which simultaneously causes velocity change and tumbling of the combined system. Since the angular momentums of two masses are exchanged periodically, separation at a selected instance will bring each mass into different orbits, one with a higher energy and the other with a lower. Separation soon after the impulse application puts the target satellite into an elliptical orbit, and separation after a half orbital period puts it into a higher circular orbit, assuming the original orbit is circular. The amount of total impulse is exactly half of that required in a conventional method. In case the service vehicle returns to the original orbit after injecting the target into the new orbit. The required total impulse is further reduced to one-third maximum. Another important feature of this method is the ease of capturing. Because the dominant force during and after the impulse application is tension through the arm, bending rigidity in the capture mechanism is not required. Therefore, a simple grapple will be enough for this maneuver. Small fuel requirements and simple capturing make this method attractive for transferring orbiting objects, and only this will provide a method of re-orbiting inoperative satellites of arbitrary shape.     

Earth observation with MEO transmitters and UAS receivers: A potential utilization of Galileo constellation

Remote sensing application of Galileo upcoming constellation in the field of civil security is preliminarily analyzed, defining low resolution (25 m) and high resolution (7.5 m) working modes for a bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar system utilizing Galileo satellites as transmitters and Unmanned Aerial Systems as receivers. Simulations offshore Somali coast and in a South Mediterranean Sea region showed that both low and high resolution acquisitions are feasible. For the low resolution mode a probability of successful image formation no matter the azimuth position of the receiving UAS has been estimated at nearly 100%. Whereas, for the high resolution mode it decreases to about 90%, which, if deemed unsatisfactory for the application, leads to the need for UAS to adapt its route to the actual Galileo satellite coverage.     

The potential of direct broadcast satellites for the USA

The extensive coverage of the USA by cable television has posed a major hurdle for successful use of direct broadcast satellites. However, the potential for DBS service is improving because of breakthroughs in development of digital video compression and the availability of high-power satellites, combined with ample allocations of radio spectrum and orbital slots to DBS service. The success of DBS applications will depend critically on (a) the cost of small-antenna home receiving terminals, (b) operating expenses, and (c) demand for new services, such as HDTV, that could be provided by DBS systems more quickly and cheaply than through terrestrial transmission.     

Investigation of the Venus atmosphere and surface by the method of radiosounding using Venera-9 and 10 satellites

Using the Venera-9 and 10 satellites radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and bistatic radar measurements of the surface of the planet Venus were realized from October 1975 to March 1976. The altitude dependence of the molecular number density, pressure and temperature on the night and day sides were derived.An analysis is made of the stratified structure and turbulence in the atmosphere of Venus. The results of pressure measurements on the surface by the method of bistatic radar are presented. The diagrams and the tables of the parameters of the atmosphere are given.     

Ground assisted rendezvous with geosynchronous satellites for the disposal of space debris by means of Earth-oriented tethers

Previous studies have shown that extended length Earth-oriented tethers in the geosynchronous (GEO) region can be used to re-orbit satellites to disposal orbits. One such approach involves the extension of a GEO based tether, collection of a debris object, and retraction of the tether, which transfers the retracted configuration to a higher energy orbit for debris disposal. The re-extension of the tether after debris disposal returns the configuration to the near-GEO altitude. The practical feasibility of such a system depends on the ability to collect GEO debris objects, attach them to a deployed tether system, and retract the tethers for transfer to the disposal orbits.This study addresses the collection and delivery of debris objects to the deployed tether system in GEO. The investigation considers the number, type and the characteristics of the debris objects as well as the collection tug that can be ground controlled to detect, rendezvous and dock with the debris objects for their delivery to the tethers system.A total of more than 400 objects are in drift orbits crossing all longitudes either below or above the geostationary radius. More than 130 objects are also known to librate around the stable points in GEO with periods of libration up to five or more years. A characterization of the position and velocity of the debris objects relative to the collection tug is investigated. Typical rendezvous performance requirements for uncooperative GEO satellites are examined, and the similarities with other approaches such as the ESA's CX-OLEV commercial mission proposal to extend the life of geostationary telecommunication satellites are noted.     

美国预警卫星威胁评估问题研究

预警卫星威胁评估是导弹作战指挥辅助决策的重要环节.首先描述了美国新一代预警卫星系统现状,然后阐释了预警卫星威胁评估的基本内涵,并分析了目前预警卫星威胁评估中存在的不足.针对高低轨预警卫星的不同功能和特点,分别提出了采用多指标综合法和威胁度函数法的威胁评估方法,并论述了各评估方法中涉及到的评估思路、评估步骤以及评估模型等内容,可以为预警卫星威胁评估提供思路和借鉴.     

Detection of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos by radio method using artificial lunar satellites

An estimate of the feasibility of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray and neutrino detection using a lunar satellite-borne radio receiver is presented. The data obtained in the proposed experiment will make resolving the current contradictions in the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray spectra measured with the major ground-based instruments possible. Moreover, they will enable us to considerably extend the accessible energy range and to check predictions of various models of the origin of the highest-energy particles in the Universe. At the same time the lunar radio detector provides a means of searching for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos with a high sensitivity combined with a very large target effective mass.     

Estimation of accuracy of close encounter performed by the bootstrap method

Ephemerides of the Solar System’s objects are calculated using dynamical models fitted to observations. The accuracy of these ephemerides can be estimated using statistical methods. The methods consist in constructing a set of possible orbits, based on observations. One of these methods, the bootstrap method of repeated sampling, has many advantages: minimal assumptions about distributions of observational errors, easy implementation, etc.     

Parametric study of the diversion of a near Earth object on an Earth intersecting trajectory

To date, NASA's “Near Earth Object Program” has discovered over 5500 comets and asteroids on trajectories that bring them within “the neighborhood” of Earth's orbit. Nearly 1000 of these objects are classified as “potentially hazardous,” passing within 0.05 astronomical units of Earth's orbit. Discovery rates of such threatening bodies increase each year. Given this multitude of threats, in addition to evidence that the planet has absorbed many impacts over its history, it is reasonable to assume that another object will strike the Earth at some point in the future. Consequently, researchers have studied and proposed several mitigation techniques for such an occurrence. This study seeks to determine how effectively the attachment of a tether and ballast mass would divert the trajectory of such threatening objects. Specifically, the study analyzes the effects over time of such a system on objects of varying orbital semimajor axis and eccentricity, using various tether lengths and ballast masses. It was determined that the technique is most effective for NEOs with high eccentricity and small semimajor axis, and that system performance increases as tether length and ballast mass increase.     

对地定向三轴稳定卫星的圆锥扫描地球敏感器的数学模型

本文介绍了对地定向三轴稳定卫星的圆锥扫描式地球敏感器的姿态测量原理、输出几何关系和数学模型，并以实际例子说明大角度姿态控制时必须注意敏感器输出的轴间耦合问题     

看遍天上人间

“地球是我们惟一的家园,保护资源环境,善待地球”,是每个地球人应尽的责任。2012年的地球日已过去,而环境与气候问题却日益成为人们关注的对象。在科技日新月异的今天,空间技术能否助力环境保护与灾害预警呢？答案是肯定的,因为国际空间站即将参加回馈我们地球家园的行动,SERVIR系统中的ISERV系统即将登上国际空间站,通过来自空间站的全球观测,给研究人员提供独特的视角来进行环境研究和灾难分析。     

Specific features of motion of geosynchronous satellites in the neighborhood of unstable stationary points

A study of peculiarities of the motion of equatorial circular geosynchronous satellites is performed in the neighborhoods of unstable stationary points with longitudes of 165° and 345°. The maps of initial conditions are constructed on the phase plane “longitude of subsatellite point-semi-major axis of orbit” corresponding to various types of regular motions and to quasi-random solutions. The dimensions of zones of the quasi-random solutions are within the limits from decimal fractions of a degree to a few degrees (in longitude) and from hundreds of meters up to several kilometers (along the semi-major axis).