CubeSail: A low cost CubeSat based solar sail demonstration mission

CubeSail is a nano-solar sail mission based on the 3U CubeSat standard, which is currently being designed and built at the Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey. CubeSail will have a total mass of around 3 kg and will deploy a 5 × 5 m sail in low Earth orbit. The primary aim of the mission is to demonstrate the concept of solar sailing and end-of-life de-orbiting using the sail membrane as a drag-sail. The spacecraft will have a compact 3-axis stabilised attitude control system, which uses three magnetic torquers aligned with the spacecraft principle axis as well as a novel two-dimensional translation stage separating the spacecraft bus from the sail. CubeSail’s deployment mechanism consists of four novel booms and four-quadrant sail membranes. The proposed booms are made from tape-spring blades and will deploy the sail membrane from a 2U CubeSat standard structure. This paper presents a systems level overview of the CubeSat mission, focusing on the mission orbit and de-orbiting, in addition to the deployment, attitude control and the satellite bus.     

Status of solar sail technology within NASA

In the early 2000s, NASA made substantial progress in the development of solar sail propulsion systems for use in robotic science and exploration of the solar system. Two different 20-m solar sail systems were produced. NASA has successfully completed functional vacuum testing in their Glenn Research Center’s Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station, Ohio. The sails were designed and developed by Alliant Techsystems Space Systems and L’Garde, respectively. The sail systems consist of a central structure with four deployable booms that support each sail. These sail designs are robust enough for deployment in a one-atmosphere, one-gravity environment and are scalable to much larger solar sails – perhaps as large as 150 m on a side. Computation modeling and analytical simulations were performed in order to assess the scalability of the technology to the larger sizes that are required to implement the first generation of missions using solar sails. Furthermore, life and space environmental effects testing of sail and component materials was also conducted.     

Performance analysis and mission applications of a new solar sail concept based on crossed booms with tip-deployed membranes

For precursor solar sail activities a strategy for a controlled deployment of large membranes was developed based on a combination of zig-zag folding and coiling of triangular sail segments spanned between crossed booms. This strategy required four autonomous deployment units that were jettisoned after the deployment is completed. In order to reduce the complexity of the system an adaptation of that deployment strategy is investigated.A baseline design for the deployment mechanisms is established that allows the deployment actuation from a central bus system in order to reduce the complexity of the system. The mass of such a sail craft will be slightly increased but its performance is still be reasonable for first solar sail missions.The presented design will be demonstrated on breadboard level showing the feasibility of the deployment strategy. The characteristic acceleration will be evaluated and compared to the requirements of certain proposed solar sail missions.     

Solar sail deployment dynamics

The deployment dynamics of a solar sail consisting of four flexible booms and four membrane quadrants are studied. First, previous work on modelling only one membrane quadrant attached to two axially moving beams using time-varying quasi-modal expansion is extended to be applicable to the complete four-quadrant system. This is achieved via “lifting” the quadrant-level matrices into system-level forms by mapping the former’s constituent blocks to the correct partitions in the latter. After the quadrant-to-system conversion of the matrices, the equations of motion from the authors’ previous work readily apply to the complete system. Modal analysis is performed on a constant-length sail to validate the model’s basic foundations against the results obtained by finite element methods in the past literature. Deployment simulation results are presented, numerical parameter studies that show possibility of instability are performed using the system’s eigenvalues, and the stability results are discussed.     

On-orbit verification of fuel-free attitude control system for spinning solar sail utilizing solar radiation pressure

This paper introduces a new attitude control system for a solar sail, which leverages solar radiation pressure. This novel system achieves completely fuel-free and oscillation-free attitude control of a flexible spinning solar sail. This system consists of thin-film-type devices that electrically control their optical parameters such as reflectivity to generate an imbalance in the solar radiation pressure applied to the edge of the sail. By using these devices, minute and continuous control torque can be applied to the sail to realize very stable and fuel-free attitude control of the large and flexible membrane. The control system was implemented as an optional attitude control system for small solar power sail demonstrator named IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun). In-orbit attitude control experiments were conducted, and the performance of the controller was successfully verified in comparison with the ground-based analytical performance estimation.     

Durability characterization of mechanical interfaces in solar sail membrane structures

The construction of a solar sail from commercially available metallized film presents several challenges. The solar sail membrane is made by seaming together precut lengths of ultrathin metallized polymer film into the required geometry. This assembled sail membrane is then folded into a small stowage volume prior to launch. The sail membranes must have additional features for connecting to rigid structural elements (e.g., sail booms) and must be electrically grounded to the spacecraft bus to prevent charge build up. Space durability of the material and mechanical interfaces of the sail membrane assemblies will be critical for the success of any solar sail mission. In this study, interfaces of polymer/metal joints in a representative solar sail membrane assembly were tested to ensure that the adhesive interfaces and the fastening grommets could withstand the temperature range and expected loads required for mission success. Various adhesion methods, such as surface treatment, commercial adhesives, and fastening systems, were experimentally tested in order to determine the most suitable method of construction.     

Shape optimization of a three-dimensional membrane-structured solar sail using an angular momentum unloading strategy

A shape of the satellite’s solar sail membrane is essential for unloading angular momentum in the three-axis stabilized attitude control system because the three-dimensional solar sail can receive solar radiation pressure from arbitrary directions. In this paper, the objective is the shape optimization of a three-dimensional membrane-structured solar sail using the angular momentum unloading strategy. We modelled and simulated the solar radiation pressure torque, for unloading angular momentum. Using the simulation system, since the unloading angular momentum rate is maximized, the shape of the three-dimensional solar sail was optimized using a Genetic algorithm and Sequential Quadratic Programming. The unloading velocity in the optimized shaped solar sail was greatly improved with respect to a conventional flat or pyramid solar sail.     

太阳帆航天器姿态机动的复合控制研究

输入成型法无法消除姿态机动过程中的柔性振动,残留的柔性振动将改变大柔性太阳帆航天器的结构参数,影响姿态机动的控制精度。为此,基于两种控制手段（作用于太阳帆中心的喷气和作用于支撑杆顶端的电推进）的组合,提出复合控制方法,以消除姿态机动过程中的柔性振动。采用将帆面质量等效到支撑杆的简化方法,建立太阳帆航天器姿态运动与柔性振动的耦合动力学模型,并从减小振动模态的外加激励出发,根据简化的动力学模型,得到了两种复合控制的设计方法：消除某一阶的柔性振动方法和减小前n（n>1）阶的柔性振动方法。仿真结果表明,相比输入成型法,第二种复合控制方法不但机动时间短,还能够将姿态机动过程中的柔性振动抑制到5%,使机动角度精度优于0.003°。由于仅利用已有的控制手段,复合控制方法算法简单,适合于实际应用。     

A torus-shaped solar sail accelerated via thermal desorption of coating

A torus-shaped sail consists of a reflective membrane attached to an inflatable torus-shaped rim. The sail’s deployment from its stowed configuration is initiated by introducing inflation pressure into the toroidal rim with an attached circular flat membrane coated by heat-sensitive materials that undergo thermal desorption (TD) from a solid to a gas phase. Our study of the deployment and acceleration of the sail is split into three steps: at a particular heliocentric distance a torus-shaped sail is deployed by a gas inflated into the toroidal rim and the membrane is kept flat by the pressure of the gas; under heating by solar radiation, the membrane coat undergoes TD and the sail is accelerated via TD of coating and solar radiation pressure (SRP); when TD ends, the sail utilizes thrust only from SRP. We study the stability of the torus-shaped sail and deflection and vibration of the flat membrane due to the acceleration by TD and SRP.     

TC-2卫星探测伸杆在技术状态更改设计中的仿真分析

讨论了TC-2卫星探测伸杆在技术状态更改中的结构和力学问题, 并对TC-2卫星 探测伸杆锁紧支座进行了模态分析、结构静强度计算和解锁机构展开的仿真分 析. 结果表明, 伸杆锁紧支座在更换火工切割器后, 支座频率变化不大, 不会 对整星的基频产生影响, 改进后的锁紧支座结构能够承受动载荷, 最大应力和 应变均在材料的许用范围之内, 锁紧支座在打开过程中不会与任何零件发生干 涉, 满足卫星对伸杆部件的要求.      

太阳帆航天器的关键技术

将太阳帆航天器所涉及的关键技术划分为4个方面：总体设计、轨道和姿态动力学与控制、太阳帆材料及其性能、太阳帆折叠与展开。针对每项关键技术,基于对国外长期研究结果进行分析并阐述主要技术特征,梳理国内相关研究进展,包括笔者与合作者的研究成果,分析存在的主要问题。根据上述分析,指出我国发展太阳帆航天器应该重视的若干问题。     

Spinning solar sail orbit steering via spin rate control

The orbit of a solar sail can be controlled by changing the attitude of the spacecraft. In this study, we consider the spinning solar power sail IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun), which is managed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The IKAROS attitude, i.e., the direction of its spin-axis, is nominally controlled by the rhumb-line control method. By utilizing the solar radiation torque, however, we are able to change the direction of the spin-axis by only controlling its spin rate. With this spin rate control, we can also control indirectly the solar sail’s trajectory. The main objective of this study is to construct the orbit control strategy of the solar sail via the spin-rate control method. We evaluate this strategy in terms of its propellant consumption compared to the rhumb-line control method. Finally, we present the actual flight attitude data of IKAROS and the change of its trajectory.     

Paths not taken – The Gossamer roadmap’s other options

Highly efficient low-thrust propulsion is increasingly applied beyond commercial use, also in mainstream and flagship science missions, in combination with gravity assist propulsion. Another recent development is the growth of small spacecraft solutions, not in size but in numbers and individual capabilities.Just over ten years ago, the DLR-ESTEC Gossamer Roadmap to Solar Sailing was set up to guide technology developments towards a propellant-less and highly efficient class of spacecraft for solar system exploration and applications missions: small spacecraft solar sails designed for carefree handling and equipped with carried application modules.Soon, in three dedicated Gossamer Roadmap Science Working Groups it initiated studies of missions uniquely feasible with solar sails such as Displaced L₁ (DL1) space weather advance warning and monitoring, Solar Polar Orbiter (SPO) delivery to very high inclination heliocentric orbit, and multiple Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) rendezvous (MNR). Together, they demonstrate the capability of near-term solar sails to achieve at least in the inner solar system almost any kind of heliocentric orbit within 10 years, from the Earth-co-orbital to the extremely inclined, eccentric and even retrograde. Noted as part of the MNR study, sail-propelled head-on retrograde kinetic impactors (RKI) go to this extreme to achieve the highest possible specific kinetic energy for the deflection of hazardous asteroids.At DLR, the experience gained in the development of deployable membrane structures leading up to the successful ground deployment test of a (20 m)², i.e., 20 m by 20 m square solar sail at DLR Cologne in 1999 was revitalized and directed towards a 3-step small spacecraft development line from as-soon-as-possible sail deployment demonstration (Gossamer-1) via in-flight evaluation of sail attitude control actuators (Gossamer-2) to an envisaged proving-the-principle flight in the Earth-Moon system (Gossamer-3). First, it turned the concept of solar sail deployment on its head by introducing four separable Boom Sail Deployment Units (BSDU) to be discarded after deployment, enabling lightweight 3-axis stabilized sailcraft. By 2015, this effort culminated in the ground-qualified technology of the DLR Gossamer-1 deployment demonstrator Engineering Qualification Model (EQM). For mission types using separable payloads, such as SPO, MNR and RKI, design concepts can be derived from the BSDU characteristic of DLR Gossamer solar sail technology which share elements with the separation systems of asteroid nanolanders like MASCOT. These nano-spacecraft are an ideal match for solar sails in micro-spacecraft format whose launch configurations are compatible with ESPA and ASAP secondary payload platforms.Like any roadmap, this one contained much more than the planned route from departure to destination and the much shorter distance actually travelled. It is full of lanes, narrow and wide, detours and shortcuts, options and decision branches. Some became the path taken on which we previously reported. More were explored along the originally planned path or as new sidings in search of better options when circumstance changed and the project had to take another turn. But none were dead ends, they just faced the inevitable changes when roadmaps face realities and they were no longer part of the road ahead. To us, they were valuable lessons learned or options up our sleeves. But for future sailors they may be on their road ahead.     

Influence of curved thin-film device on deformation of a solar sail

A spinning solar sail IKAROS’s membrane is estimated to unexpectedly deform into an inverted pyramid shape due to thin-film devices with curvature, such as thin-film solar cells and steering devices on the membrane. It is important to investigate the deformation caused by the curved thin-film devices and predict the sail shape because the out-of-plane deformation greatly affects solar radiation pressure (SRP) and SRP torque. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the global shape and orientation and position of curved thin-film devices and to evaluate SRP torque on the global shape using finite element analysis. The global shape is evaluated based on the out-of-plane displacement and the SRP torque. When the curved thin-film devices make the membrane shrink in the circumferential, diagonal, and radial direction, the sail deforms into a pyramid shape, an inverted pyramid one, and a saddle one, respectively. The saddle shape is more desirable for solar sails than the inverted pyramid shape and the pyramid one from the viewpoint of shape stability to SRP and control of SRP torque in the normal direction of the sail (windmill torque). The position of the thin-film device tends to increase the absolute value of windmill torque when it is biased circumferentially from the petal central axis. The suggested design principles for the arrangement of thin-film devices is that the curved thin-film devices should be directed so that the sail shrinks in the radial direction in order to deform the sail into a saddle shape with high shape stability, and the position of the thin-film devices should be biased in the circumferential direction paying attention to the absolute value of windmill torque to determine the direction of windmill torque.     

基于一次性微冲量推力器阵列的卫星低频 振动抑制与控制

为了解决挠性卫星受扰后的主动振动控制问题,提出将一次性微冲量推力器阵列（DMITA）作为控制执行器安装在卫星太阳帆板上,其具有体积小、成本低、功耗低的特点.介绍一次性微冲量推力器主动振动控制系统（DMITAVCS）的初步应用方案,用混合坐标法推导装有DMITAVCS的挠性卫星姿态动力学方程,并给出能量最优的DMITA位置配置准则.数值仿真结果表明DMITAVCS能够快速抑制挠性卫星受扰后姿态和帆板的振动,主要得益于安装在帆板上的一次性微冲量推力器阵列（DMITA）能够产生较大的姿态驱动力臂.     

Extrasolar space exploration by a solar sail accelerated via thermal desorption of coating

For extrasolar space exploration it might be very convenient to take advantage of space environmental effects such as solar radiation heating to accelerate a solar sail coated by materials that undergo thermal desorption at a particular temperature. Thermal desorption can provide additional thrust as heating liberates atoms, embedded on the surface of the solar sail. We are considering orbital dynamics of a solar sail coated with materials that undergo thermal desorption at a specific temperature, as a result of heating by solar radiation at a particular heliocentric distance, and focus on two scenarios that only differ in the way the sail approaches the Sun. For each scenario once the perihelion is reached, the sail coat undergoes thermal desorption. When the desorption process ends, the sail then escapes the Solar System having the conventional acceleration due to solar radiation pressure. We study the dependence of a cruise speed of a solar sail on perihelion of the orbit where the solar sail is deployed. The following scenarios are considered and analyzed: (1) Hohmann transfer plus thermal desorption. In this scenario the sail would be carried as a payload to the perihelion with a conventional propulsion system by a Hohmann transfer from Earth’s orbit to an orbit very close to the Sun and then be deployed. Our calculations show that the cruise speed of the solar sail varies from 173?km/s to 325?km/s that corresponds to perihelion 0.3?AU and 0.1 AU, respectively. (2) Elliptical transfer plus Slingshot plus thermal desorption. In this scenario the transfer occurs from Earth’s orbit to Jupiter’s orbit; then a Jupiter’s fly-by leads to the orbit close to the Sun, where the sail is deployed and thermal desorption comes active. In this case the cruise speed of the solar sail varies from 187?km/s to 331?km/s depending on the perihelion of the orbit. Our study analyses and compares the different scenarios in which thermal desorption comes beside traditional propulsion systems for extrasolar space exploration.     

Sensitivity of a physically realizable heliogyro root pitch control system to inherent damping models

The heliogyro solar sail employs high aspect ratio blades that are rigidized by spinning about the central spacecraft, eliminating the need for structural booms typically used to tension traditional square sails. The easily scalable heliogyro gains its maneuverability by actuating the blades at their root with sinusoidal pitch profiles. The blade vibration caused by maneuvering must be attenuated using active control since there is little inherent damping in the blade material. Due to the small root pitch control torques required, on the order of 2 µNm, compared to the large friction torques associated with a root pitch actuator, it has only recently been shown that a single blade heliogyro impedance controller can add damping to the lowest frequency torsional modes of the blade in the presence of modeled actuator friction torques. However, the need to measure blade twist away from the actuator at the root creates a non-collocated control system. Some inherent damping at the blade’s higher frequency modes is therefore needed to stably add damping to the larger-magnitude low-frequency modes, hence control design is sensitive to the accuracy of the blade damping model. Recently, damping characterization tests performed on a small-scale heliogyro blade in a high-vacuum chamber invalidated the assumption of a linear viscous torsional blade damping model that was previously used in blade control designs. This paper describes the formulation of three modal damping models based on the new experimental data and their integration into the single blade heliogyro model. A comparison of the robustness and performance envelopes for the baseline proximal blade twist feedback controller using these damping models shows the ability to meet the required settling time of less than 720 s necessary for a heliogyro technology demonstration mission. This comparison of physically realizable root pitch control systems for a heliogyro blade is critical to increasing the sailcraft to Technology Readiness Level three.     

太阳帆板展开期间卫星动力学数字模拟

<正> 一、引言由于运载工具头部的尺寸限制及发射期间的恶劣力学环境,卫星的太阳帆板在发射阶段一般呈收拢状态,直到卫星和运载火箭分离并进入自由飞行轨道后,帆板才展开成伸张状态,以便达到尽可能大的阳光收集面积。尽管展开过程持续时间不长,但帆板展开动作必然会影响卫星的姿态。特别是左右翼反对称展开引起的卫星姿态扰动可能更大。由于地面条件     

子午工程探空火箭伸杆展开机构技术研究

根据子午工程探空火箭电子和电场探测需求,设计了套筒式伸杆展开机构.通过电子伸杆和电场伸杆的结构方案设计、力学仿真分析,伸杆单项力学试验,伸杆与整箭的匹配力学试验以及伸杆飞行试验验证得出,该伸杆技术方案合理可行,伸杆总体构型、布局设计及结构方案设计满足科学探测各项技术指标的要求.      

基于径向基函数代理模型的M形杆刚度优化

在航天任务的执行中,超弹性杆主要用于大型空间可展天线和太阳帆等展开和支撑。为了提高超弹性杆在展开状态下的刚度,提出了一种新型M形超弹性杆,并对M形超弹性杆的刚度进行了研究。采用ABAQUS建立M形超弹性杆的弯曲、压缩和扭转的有限元模型,利用显示动力学法对屈曲过程进行非线性数值模拟。采用全因子法进行实验设计,利用径向基函数(RBF)建立M形超弹性杆屈曲过程性能参数的代理模型。以弯曲刚度、扭转刚度和压缩刚度为优化目标,以质量为约束,选取黏结段长度和内侧带簧片圆心角为自变量建立优化模型。采用粒子群(PSO)算法进行M形超弹性杆参数优化,得到最优刚度下,黏结段长度为7.894 5 mm,圆心角为26°,并且得到刚度随其变化规律。