Frisbee – A Platform for a Small Satellite Science Swarms

The FRISBEE multi-mission platform is presented, alongside the mission concept for SWARM (Space Weather Advanced Research Mission), a fleet of 30 or more microsatellites launched in groups of 5 and covering a range of local times and inclinations. The aim of this mission is to develop an understanding of the dynamic, global, and multiscale solar terrestrial interactions. The scientific payload is restricted to a dc magnetometer and electrostatic charged particle (ion and electron) analyser, providing both high time resolution and characterisation of collisionless plasma processes. The baseline satellite swarm can be launched in a variety of configurations and be augmented by future launches of identical satellites to provide greater coverage and density of measurement. The satellites require only loose formation control to ensure equal separation throughout the set of orbits defined in this document. The individual satellites are spin stabilized and each have a mass \u3c 25 kg. This mission represents the next step in understanding the solar terrestrial interaction and the potential results will be of great interest to the space science community at large. This mission has a true requirement for a swarm such that it can sample the magnetosphere in three dimensions and with sufficient density of measurements. The spacecraft required for this proposed mission could be designed and built within 24 months as most of the platform and payload technologies are re-used from previous missions. The mission has the potential for international collaboration, with provision of spacecraft platforms and world-leading scientific research. A demonstration of this mission has been down-selected by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) for potential funding in the UK National MOSAIC small satellite programme

STRaND-1 and TDS-1: How the UK Does Low Cost Tech Demo

A perrenial question of Cubesats is why they are not yet used as platforms for truly operational application missions. The STRaND-1 mission described in this paper is used to demonstrate the hurdles which must be overcome in order to create cost-effective CubeSat platforms that are ready for operational missions with satisfactory design lifetime, reliability and availability objectives. STRaND-1 is the UK’s first CubeSat, and will be launched on the 25th of February 2013 on a PSLV into a dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbit. As with many CubeSats, the goals of the successful 3U mission were rapid training and technology demonstration. The novelty (other than the technical novelty of testing the robustness of mobile phone electronics in the LEO environment) was the volunteer nature of the team, and that the organisations involved had previous operational small satellite mission experience. This paper takes a holistic view of the mission, critically reviewing the mission lifecycle from the initial concept design through to integration and testing, LEOP and initial mission results in respect of these hurdles to operational applications. The UK\u27s small satellite technology demonstration mission - TDS-1 - is presented for contrast. Now ready for flight in Q3 2013, TDS-1 is an example of how a collaborative small sat technology demonstration mission can be accomplished at low cost and inside a rapid schedule. TDS-1 incorporates a suite of eight separate sensor payloads plus a novel set of advanced avionics. The design, concept of operations and management of TDS-1 enabled the platform enough flexibility to accommodate the payloads to change in both number and in bus resources required throughout the programme lifecycle, while avoiding the pitfalls of over-designing the system. The review is conducted with an eye to how a CubeSat mission differs from the commercial, small satellite approach to spacecraft engineering. In particular, lessons learnt on CubeSat general system design philosophy, data bus topologies, and management philosophies are discussed and compared against the more traditional small sat approach, something on which the Surrey community can speak with authority. Conclusions are drawn on the the similarities and differences of the small-satellite approach pioneered in the 1990s and the CubeSat approach pioneered in the 2000s, with recommendations on where commercial, small satellite engineering philosophy can be applied to the hypothetical operational CubeSat mission, and vice versa

The GIOVE-A Small Navigation Mission

The GIOVE-A mission demonstrates that small satellites are the ideal tool for rapid response missions. The 600kg spacecraft was launched into Medium Earth Orbit in late December 2005, carrying a navigation payload, technology payloads, and a space environment analysis package. Despite significant challenges in the space environment, and tight mission requirements, it was possible to use small satellite engineering techniques to develop and launch this demanding mission in under 30 months

Introduction to FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 Mission

Small satellites have played a role in operational meteorology in the early space days, and were soon overtaken by larger and more capable polar and geostationary platforms. Improvements in the capabilities of small satellites deployed in constellations, and innovative payload and measurement techniques have changed that in the past decade. A group of smaller satellites can now offer abilities, which can not be achieved with single satellites, whatever their size. The FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 is a joint program underway between Taiwan and US to serve as the follow-on program of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC. This mission aims to collect atmospheric/ionospheric soundings globally through a constellation system of 12 satellites. Although FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC was not expected to be an operational mission, its data have been well recognized and injected into various numerical weather prediction models by several major weather forecasting centers. Hence, FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 is further defined as an operational constellation system to continue the provision of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) data to the global users. In this paper, the framework and mission architecture of the FORMOSAT-7 /COSMIC-2 joint program are introduced. The role and responsibility of the joint team to be implemented by National Space Organization (NSPO) in Taiwan and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in US are also elaborated. The top-level mission baseline has been established and the joint team has been proceeding with the task on mission design and system interfaces. Finally, the NSPO-Built satellite that NSPO plans to develop indigenously in parallel to this joint mission is briefly introduced

Capacity building in emerging space nations: Experiences, challenges and benefits

This paper focuses on ways in which space is being used to build capacity in science and technology in order to