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.     

A feasibility study for the detection of the diurnal variation of tropospheric NO2 over Tokyo from a geostationary orbit

We have conducted a feasibility study for the geostationary monitoring of the diurnal variation of tropospheric NO₂ over Tokyo. Using NO₂ fields from a chemical transport model, synthetic spectra were created by a radiative transfer model, SCIATRAN, for summer and winter cases. We then performed a Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) analysis to retrieve NO₂ slant column densities (SCDs), and after converting SCDs into vertical column densities (VCDs), we estimated the precision of the retrieved VCDs. The simulation showed that signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ? 500 is needed to detect the diurnal variation and that SNR ? 1000 is needed to observe the local minimum occurring in the early afternoon (LT13–14) in summer. In winter, the detection of the diurnal variation during LT08–15 needs SNR ? 500, and SNR ? 1000 is needed if early morning (LT07) and early evening (LT16) are included. The currently discussed sensor specification for the Japanese geostationary satellite project, GMAP-Asia, which has a horizontal resolution of 10 km and a temporal resolution of 1hr, has demonstrated the performance of a precision of several percent, which is approximately corresponding to SNR = 1000–2000 during daytime and SNR ? 500 in the morning and evening. We also discuss possible biases caused by the temperature dependence of the absorption cross section utilized in the DOAS retrieval, and the effect of uncertainties of surface albedo and clouds on the estimation of precisions.     

Dynamic orbit propagation in a gravitational field of an inhomogeneous attractive body using the Lagrange coefficients

The analytical methods have nearly been replaced by the numerical methods due to their higher accuracy and accessibility of computation facilities. The semi-analytical Lagrange method of orbit propagation using f and g series is a competitive alternative to the numerical integration technique if the Lagrange coefficients are derived in a full gravitational field. In this paper, a generalization of the Lagrange method of orbit propagation is introduced. In other words, we introduce a complete form of the Lagrange coefficients in all force fields developed in the spherical harmonics for example full gravitational field of the Earth. The method is numerically compared with the numerical integration technique. In order to show the numerical performance of the method, it has been implemented for orbit propagation of a GPS-like MEO and CHAMP-like LEO satellites. Discrepancy at centimeter level for CHAMP-like and sub-millimeter accuracy for GPS-like satellites shows relatively high performance of the developed algorithm. Compared to integration method, the proposed Lagrange method is nearly faster by a factor two for small Nmax and four for large Nmax.     

The possibilities of polar meteorology,environmental remote sensing,communications and space weather applications from Artificial Lagrange Orbit

The ability to observe meteorological events in the polar regions of the Earth from satellite celebrated an anniversary, with the launch of TIROS-I in a pseudo-polar orbit on 1 April 1960. Yet, after 50 years, polar orbiting satellites are still the best view of the polar regions of the Earth. The luxuries of geostationary satellite orbit including rapid scan operations, feature tracking, and atmospheric motion vectors (or cloud drift winds), are enjoyed only by the middle and tropical latitudes or perhaps only cover the deep polar regions in the case of satellite derived winds from polar orbit. The prospect of a solar sailing satellite system in an Artificial Lagrange Orbit (ALO, also known as “pole sitters”) offers the opportunity for polar environmental remote sensing, communications, forecasting and space weather monitoring. While there are other orbital possibilities to achieve this goal, an ALO satellite system offers one of the best analogs to the geostationary satellite system for routine polar latitude observations.     

高超声速飞行器自抗扰分数阶PID控制器设计(英文)

自抗扰控制器利用跟踪微分器可解决超调量及快速性之间的矛盾,分数阶PID控制器在提高控制品质的同时扩大了被控系统参数的稳定域。结合自抗扰技术及分数阶PID控制器设计了自抗扰分数阶PID控制器,并应用于高超声速飞行器再入姿态控制。仿真结果表明,自抗扰分数阶PID控制器对于高超声速飞行器非线性模型及强外干扰的影响下具有很好的控制效果,并且有较大的稳定域,即针对被控系统参数变化具有更强的鲁棒性。     

卫星导航系统天线阵接收机波束指向误差分析

研究表明：卫星导航系统阵元几何位置误差是影响波束指向误差的主要因素,而卫星和接收机位置误差则影响甚微,其中千米级的卫星位置误差以及接收机位置误差导致的波束指向误差不超过0.1°,而毫米级的阵元几何位置随机误差可导致典型7阵元天线阵波束指向误差达到几度。该研究成果可为卫星导航系统天线阵接收机的设计提供依据。     

美国AEHF军事通信卫星推进系统及其在首发星上的应用

美国先进极高频（AEHF）项目将采用4颗运行于地球同步轨道（GEO）的AE—HF军事通信卫星。AEHF卫星的推进系统由远地点发动机、姿态控制发动机组和双模式霍尔电推进子系统组成。首发星AEHF-1是世界上首个采用霍尔电推进系统执行发射后轨道提升任夯的GEO卫星。AEHF-1卫星星箭分离后,远地点发动机未能正常工作,因此...     

先进电子信息系统在通信卫星平台中的应用

以A2100平台、EuroStar3000平台和Space-Bus4000平台的星载电子信息系统为例,介绍了国外先进的商用通信卫星平台星载电子系统的特点,从集成度、扩展能力、处理能力等方面分析并对比了中国通信卫星平台与国外的差距,从优化卫星平台电子系统结构、加强公用平台开发等方面,提出了建议.     

星箭锁紧装置黏滞摩擦系数的影响因素研究

星箭锁紧装置是卫星与火箭连接的关键机构。装置中的V形卡块在预紧力施加过程中,易发生偏斜,使得星箭分离配合面接触不均匀,产生应力集中,导致星箭分离面黏着磨损。研究了星箭锁紧装置中的V形卡块和上下端框的铝合金摩擦副在不同影响因素下摩擦系数的变化,探究了温度、正压力以及铝合金表面粗糙度对界面黏着和黏滞摩擦系数的影响。研究结果表明,硫酸阳极化处理的2A14T6-2A14T6比较适合作为摩擦副材料,在加工和锁紧过程中,应合理控制其粗糙度、温度和正压力,以避免黏着磨损。     

固液捆绑火箭脉动压力风洞试验与飞行试验对比研究

固液捆绑火箭通常气动外形复杂,跨声速飞行动压大,因此脉动压力抖振载荷严酷。针对某型固液捆绑火箭,为了获取较为准确的跨声速脉动压力特性,在研制阶段开展了脉动压力风洞试验,火箭飞行时也进行了脉动压力测量,以评估飞行状态抖振载荷。采用脉动压力风洞试验和飞行试验进行对比,结果显示,飞行试验各测点脉动压力系数随马赫数变化趋势与风洞试验值一致,峰值大小基本相同,合成功率谱密度函数遥测峰值与设计值相当。研究结果首次验证了固液捆绑火箭跨声速脉动压力设计方法的有效性。