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.     

A comprehensive survey on the methods of angle of attack measurement and estimation in UAVs

Angle of Attack (AOA) is a crucial parameter which directly affects the aerodynamic forces of an aircraft. The measurement of AOA is required to ensure a safe flight within its designed flight envelop. This paper intends to summarise a comprehensive survey on the measurement techniques and estimation methods for AOA, specifically in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications. In the case of UAVs, weight constraint plays a major role as far as sensor suites are concerned. This results in selecting a suitable estimation method to extract AOA using the available data from the autopilot. The most feasible and widely employed AOA measurement technique is by using the Multi-Hole Probes (MHPs). The MHP measures the AOA regarding the pressure variations between the ports. Due to the importance of MHP in AOA measurement, the calibration methods for the MHP are also included in this paper. This paper discusses the AOA measurement using virtual AOA sensors, their importance and the operation.     

A progressive approach to predict shot peening process parameters for forming integral panel of Al7050-T7451

In this paper, a progressive approach to predict the multiple shot peening process parameters for complex integral panel is proposed. Firstly, the invariable parameters in the forming process including shot size, mass flow, peening distance and peening angle are determined according to the empirical and machine type. Then, the optimal value of air pressure for the whole shot peening is selected by the experimental data. Finally, the feeding speed for every shot peening path is predicted by regression equation. The integral panel part with thickness from 2 mm to 5 mm and curvature radius from 3200 mm to 16000 mm is taken as a research object, and four experiments are conducted. In order to design specimens for acquiring the forming data, one experiment is conducted to compare the curvature radius of the plate and stringer-structural specimens, which were peened along the middle of the two stringers. The most striking finding of this experiment is that the outer shape error range is below 3.9%, so the plate specimens can be used in predicting feeding speed of the integral panel. The second experiment is performed and results show that when the coverage reaches the limit of 80%, the minimum feeding speed is 50 mm/s. By this feeding speed, the forming curvature radius of the specimens with different thickness from the third experiment is measured and compared with the research object, and the optimal air pressure is 0.15 MPa. Then, the plate specimens with thickness from 2 mm to 5 mm are peened in the fourth experiment, and the measured curvature radius data are used to calculate the feeding speed of different shot peening path by regressive analysis method. The algorithm is validated by forming a test part and the average deviation is 0.496 mm. It is shown that the approach can realize the forming of the integral panel precisely.     

导航卫星中断频次的分析方法

面向导航卫星中断频次的定量分析需求,该文分析导航卫星中断产生的主要原因,给出中断频次分析的流程,并针对分析过程中的三个关键问题,研究提出具体实施方法,包括通过相关性分析快速定位底层中断事件,通过中断树建立指标分析模型,并融合在轨数据、地面试验数据快速预估得到底层功能异常率等。最后通过示例进一步说明中断频次分析过程。该文方法已应用于北斗导航卫星工程。     

Orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics of tethered solar power satellite

A new orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamic model of the tethered solar power satellite (Tethered SPS) is established based on absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The Hamilton’s equation of the system is derived by introducing generalized momentum through Legendre transformation. The correctness of the proposed model is verified by an example. The dynamic characteristics of the Tethered SPS are studied using the symplectic Runge-Kutta method. Simulation results show that the orbital radius and the total energy of the system are well preserved. The attitude of the system is unstable when the mass of the bus system is small. However, the attitude stability is dependent on some other parameters of the system, which requires further studies. It is also found that the average tether force/deformation can be roughly estimated by simplifying the solar panel as a particle. The proposed model can be used to study the orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics and control problems.     

Topology optimization in lightweight design of a 3D-printed flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle

Topology optimization is an effective method to obtain a lightweight structure that meets the requirements of structural strength. Whether the optimization results meet the actual needs mainly depends on the accuracy of the material properties and the boundary conditions, especially for a tiny Flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (FMAV) transmission system manufactured by 3D printing. In this paper, experimental and numerical computation efforts were undertaken to gain a reliable topology optimization method for the bottom of the transmission system. First, the constitutive behavior of the ultraviolet (UV) curable resin used in fabrication was evaluated. Second, a numerical computation model describing further verified via experiments. Topology optimization modeling considering nonlinear factors, e.g. contact, friction and collision, was presented, and the optimization results were verified by both dynamic simulation and experiments. Finally, detailed discussions on different load cases and constraints were presented to clarify their effect on the optimization. Our methods and results presented in this paper may shed light on the lightweight design of a FMAV.     

Accurate approximation of in-ecliptic trajectories for E-sail with constant pitch angle

Propellantless continuous-thrust propulsion systems, such as electric solar wind sails, may be successfully used for new space missions, especially those requiring high-energy orbit transfers. When the mass-to-thrust ratio is sufficiently large, the spacecraft trajectory is characterized by long flight times with a number of revolutions around the Sun. The corresponding mission analysis, especially when addressed within an optimal context, requires a significant amount of simulation effort. Analytical trajectories are therefore useful aids in a preliminary phase of mission design, even though exact solution are very difficult to obtain. The aim of this paper is to present an accurate, analytical, approximation of the spacecraft trajectory generated by an electric solar wind sail with a constant pitch angle, using the latest mathematical model of the thrust vector. Assuming a heliocentric circular parking orbit and a two-dimensional scenario, the simulation results show that the proposed equations are able to accurately describe the actual spacecraft trajectory for a long time interval when the propulsive acceleration magnitude is sufficiently small.     

Research on navigation of satellite constellation based on an asynchronous observation model using X-ray pulsar

Pulsar navigation is a promising navigation method for high-altitude orbit space tasks or deep space exploration. At present, an important reason for restricting the development of pulsar navigation is that navigation accuracy is not high due to the slow update of the measurements. In order to improve the accuracy of pulsar navigation, an asynchronous observation model which can improve the update rate of the measurements is proposed on the basis of satellite constellation which has a broad space for development because of its visibility and reliability. The simulation results show that the asynchronous observation model improves the positioning accuracy by 31.48% and velocity accuracy by 24.75% than that of the synchronous observation model. With the new Doppler effects compensation method in the asynchronous observation model proposed in this paper, the positioning accuracy is improved by 32.27%, and the velocity accuracy is improved by 34.07% than that of the traditional method. The simulation results show that without considering the clock error will result in a filtering divergence.     

某型装备能源电池异常爆破故障分析

对一起因电池设计缺陷引发装备战训失利的故障进行分析,重点对电池工作机理和设计缺陷展开解析,明确故障定位,并对国内外装备弹上不同体系电池的优缺点进行比较,旨在为产品维护保障、国产化科研等工作提供参考。     

A robust object-based shadow detection method for cloud-free high resolution satellite images over urban areas and water bodies

Unwanted contrast in high resolution satellite images such as shadow areas directly affects the result of further processing in urban remote sensing images. Detecting and finding the precise position of shadows is critical in different remote sensing processing chains such as change detection, image classification and digital elevation model generation from stereo images. The spectral similarity between shadow areas, water bodies, and some dark asphalt roads makes the development of robust shadow detection algorithms challenging. In addition, most of the existing methods work on pixel-level and neglect the contextual information contained in neighboring pixels. In this paper, a new object-based shadow detection framework is introduced. In the proposed method a pixel-level shadow mask is built by extending established thresholding methods with a new C₄ index which enables to solve the ambiguity of shadow and water bodies. Then the pixel-based results are further processed in an object-based majority analysis to detect the final shadow objects. Four different high resolution satellite images are used to validate this new approach. The result shows the superiority of the proposed method over some state-of-the-art shadow detection method with an average of 96% in F-measure.