Deep-space CubeSats: thinking inside the box

Walker, Roger; Binns, David; Bramanti, Cristina; Casasco, Massimo; Concari, Paolo; Izzo, Dario; Feili, D.; Fernández, Pablo; Fernandez, Jesus Gil; Hager, Philipp; Koschny, D.; Pesquita, Vasco; Wallace, Neil; Carnelli, Ian; Khan, Michael; Scoubeau, Mehdi; Taubert, D.

doi:10.1093/astrogeo/aty232

Cited by 52 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Within the third and fourth edition of the Sysnova technical challenges led by the ESA General Studies Programme, a number of studies were performed mainly based on CubeSat Opportunity Payload of Intersatellite Networking Sensors (COPINS) and Lunar CubeSats for Exploration (LUCE) [31]. COPINS objective was to support the ESA Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM).…”

Section: Past Present and Future Of Deep Space Small Satellite Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autonomous navigation for deep space small satellites: Scientific and technological advances

2022

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In recent years, there is a growing interest in small satellites for deep space exploration. The current approach for planetary navigation is based on ground-based radiometric tracking. A new era of low-cost small satellites for space exploration will require autonomous deep space navigation. This will decrease the reliance on groundbased tracking and provide a substantial reduction in operational costs because of crowded communication networks. In addition, it will be an enabler for future missions currently impossible. This review investigates available deep space navigation methods from an autonomy perspective, considering trends in proposed deep space small satellite missions. Autonomous crosslink radiometric navigation, which is one of the best methods for small satellites due to its simplicity and the use of existing technologies, is studied, including available measurement methods, enabling technologies, and applicability to the currently proposed missions. The main objective of this study is to fill the gap in the scientific literature on the autonomous deep space navigation methods, deeply for crosslink radiometric navigation and to aim at showing the potential advantages that this technique could offer to the missions being analyzed. In this study, a total of 64 proposed deep space small satellite missions have been analyzed found from a variety of sources including journal papers, conference proceedings, and mission websites. In those missions, the most popular destinations are found to be cislunar space and small bodies with the purpose of surface mapping and characterization. Even though various autonomous navigation methods have been proposed for those missions, most of them have planned to use the traditional ground-based radiometric tracking for navigation purposes. This study also shows that more than half of the missions can benefit from the crosslink radiometric navigation through the inter-satellite link.

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Section: Past Present and Future Of Deep Space Small Satellite Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastly, a stand-alone deep space CubeSat called M-ARGO (shown in Fig. 3) has been designed to rendezvous with an asteroid and perform close proximity operations [31].…”

Section: Past Present and Future Of Deep Space Small Satellite Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous navigation for deep space small satellites: Scientific and technological advances

2022

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“…The European Space Agency is also considering reflectarrays for future CubeSat missions 45 . The M-ARGO deep-space spacecraft could be the first ESA mission for a deep-space CubeSat with a high gain reflectarray antenna 46 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflectarray antennas: a smart solution for new generation satellite mega-constellations in space communications

Imaz-Lueje

Prado

Arrebola

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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One of the most ambitious projects in communications in recent years is the development of the so-called satellite mega-constellations. Comprised of hundreds or thousands of small and low-cost satellites, they aim to provide internet services in places without existing broadband access. For the antenna subsystem, reflectarrays have been proposed as a cheap solution due to their low profile and manufacturing costs, while still providing good performance. This paper presents a full design of a reflectarray antenna for mega-constellation satellites with a shaped-beam isoflux pattern for constant power flux in the surface of the Earth. A unit cell consisting of two stacked rectangular microstrip patches backed by a ground plane is employed, providing more than 360° of phase-shift. The generalized intersection approach optimization algorithm is employed to synthesize the required isoflux pattern in a 2 GHz bandwidth in Ku-band. To that purpose, a full-wave electromagnetic analysis is employed for the wideband design. The optimized reflectarray layout complies with the specifications of the isoflux pattern in the frequency band 16 GHz–18 GHz, demonstrating the capabilities of this type of antenna to provide a low-cost, low-profile solution for the user beam segment, including different types of shaped beams.

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“…Nowadays, they are a consolidate means for Earth observation, where they dramatically reduce mission costs. We are now at a turning point, where nano-and micro-satellite systems can accomplish interplanetary missions beyond the boundaries of low Earth orbit (LEO) [2,3]. However, in spite of the substantial increase in low-mass satellites launched since 2013, several statistics show the low success rate of these commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based cost-driven systems.…”

Section: Introduction and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%