Small Satellite Capability Analysis: A Systems Approach for Defining Translational Performance in Small Satellites

Small Satellite Capability Analysis: A Systems Approach for Defining Translational Performance in Small Satellites

With recent technological advances, small satellite systems have evoked great interest from both commercial and military sectors. These systems offer reductions in both development time and mission cost, which make them attractive alternatives to the large systems in use today, especially for developing space nations. Small satellites are inherently less capable due to their resource constraints, yet as technology advances, a widening array of supportable missions may be enabled. Due to this, it is important for future Space Situational Awareness (SSA) applications to understand and analyze the capabilities and limitations of these small systems. In order to achieve this, a subsystem-by-subsystem analysis approach may be employed to define the capabilities of each sub-system that may be found in a small satellite. This study is intended to analyze the propulsion sub-system and define an upper bound for translational performance in micro-satellites. During the study, each element of the propulsion subsystem was characterized in terms of the satellite size to define the metrics that have the greatest effect on the overall performance. Both monopropellant and cold gas propulsion, which are proven and viable options for small satellites, were chosen for the analysis. From this study, conclusions can be drawn for both systems that identify the upper bounds of available Delta-V in terms of the sub-system and overall satellite size.