VENμS Program: Broad and New Horizons for Super-Spectral Imaging and Electric Propulsion Missions for a Small Satellite

Vegetation and Environment New Micro Satellite (Venμs) is a joint venture of the Israeli and French space agencies for development, production, launching, and operating a new space system. Venμs is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) small satellite for scientific and technological purposes. The scientific mission includes vegetation monitoring and water quality assessment over coastal zones and inland water bodies. It will be specifically suitable for precision agriculture tasks such as site-specific management and/or decision support systems. For this purpose the satellite has apparatus for high spatial resolution (5.3 m) and for high spectral resolution (12 spectral bands in the visible and near infrared wavelengths), as well as orbit for high temporal resolution (2 days revisit time). The satellite\u27s orbit is a near polar sun-synchronous orbit at 720 km height. The satellite will acquire images of sites of interest all around the world. The satellite will be able to be tilted up to 30 degree along and across track; however, each site will be observed under a constant view angle. The technological mission consists of space verification and validation by mission enhancement capability demonstration of a newly developed Israeli Hall Effect Thruster (IHET) system, used as a payload. IHET is developed and manufactured by Rafael and this will be its maiden flight. The heart of the IHET is the HET-300 thruster, which produces about 15 mN thrust, operating at 300W anodic power. This thruster and the based-on Electrical Propulsion System (EPS), is specifically developed for usage onboard micro or small satellites, which can supply as little as 300 to 600 watts for operation. The technological mission will be targeted to qualify the IHET in space as well as validate it by demonstrating orbit transfer and strict orbit keeping in a high drag environment. The Venμs satellite is currently in manufacturing phase, its launch weight is 260 kg, and it is planned to be launched in 2010. This paper will present Venμs system with emphasis on the two main missions (scientific and technological) of Venμs and the respective payloads along with main design considerations of the electrical propulsion system

Carbon Dioxide Based Heated Gas Propulsion System for Nano-Satellites

The use of carbon dioxide as propellant makes small satellite maneuverability safe, affordable and attractive to use for academic space missions. We present a preliminary conceptual design of a propulsion system based on carbon dioxide propellant. The design was tailored for the SAMSON 6U nano-satellite constellation. A careful analysis of the gas properties was made, which provided the essential working points and architecture of the propulsion system. Subsequently, a dedicated conceptual design was performed to comply with the propellant working points and basic satellite requirements. The main components, such as the propellant storage tank and thruster nozzle, were defined and designed. Overall, the system mass is 1,777 gr of which the propellant is 310 gr. The system can generate thrust of 80 mN and ΔV of 20 m/s. Finally, we present an operational analysis of the system, defining the operational constraints and performance. A full mission simulation was run, utilizing the propulsion system characteristics while satisfying mission requirements. The final design fully complies with the mass, volume and performance requirements

The SAMSON Project – Cluster Flight and Geolocation with Three Autonomous Nano-satellites

Satellite Mission for Swarming and Geolocation (SAMSON) is a new satellite mission initiated and led by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and supported by Israeli space industries and other partners. SAMSON shall include three inter-communicating nano-satellites, based on the Cubesat standard. The mission is planned for at least one year, and has two goals: (1) demonstrate long-term autonomous cluster flight of multiple satellites and (2) geolocate a cooperative radiating electromagnetic source on Earth. Additional payloads may include a micro Pulsed Plasma Thruster and a new space processor. The configuration of each satellite is a 6U Cubesat, comprising of an electric power system with deployable solar panels, communication system, on-board data handling system, attitude control system and a cold-gas propulsion system for orbit and cluster-keeping. The SAMSON mission commenced in early 2012 and is planned to be launched in 2015. All three satellites shall be launched with the same inclination and semi-major axis into a near-circular orbit. In orbit, they shall separate to form a cluster with inter-satellite relative distances ranging from 100 m to 250 km. One satellite shall be designated as leader , and the rest would serve as followers . The leader shall station-keep to control the nominal mean orbital elements, while the followers shall only perform relative orbital element corrections to satisfy the relative distance constraints. During the course of the mission, the cluster shall also perform geolocation experiments, using signals received from known locations on Earth. SAMSON will serve as a platform for academic research and hands-on engineering education. It will also contribute to the advancement of Search and Rescue mission technologies