All 2015 Content
Session
Technical Session IV: Advanced Technologies I
Abstract
This paper describes the results of several orbital experiments of a proprietary micropropulsion system for nanosatellites developed by Microspace Rapid Pte Ltd of Singapore. A 3U cubesat named POPSAT-HIP1 has been developed by Microspace to demonstrate the functionality of multiple integrated payloads in orbit. One of the payloads is a Cold Gas Micropropulsion system based on the supersonic micronozzles developed by Microspace. The system has been integrated in the optical payload which serves also as pressurized propellant tank (1). Eight micronozzles have been placed on the corners and edges of the satellite to control three rotation axes and to allow for net force production for formation flight or station keeping along the orbit. The satellite has been launched on a Sun Synchronous Low Earth Orbit on 19th June 2014 by a DNEPR vehicle from Yasny in Russia. The propulsion system has been activated as soon as the satellite has reached orbit and has remained fully functional until the time of writing, 9 months after the launch. The nozzles have been fired under telecommand to produce ΔV in angular velocity which has been measured by the ADCS sensors: magnetometers, gyro and Sun sensors with data points collected every 3 to 5 seconds and transmitted to ground as telemetry data. Maneuvers results are presented and analyzed versus the expected values. The Conclusions present the estimation of the total ΔV produced during this mission, evaluated at about 2.25m/s and 3m/s.
Presentation
Cubesat Micropropulsion Characterization in Low Earth Orbit
This paper describes the results of several orbital experiments of a proprietary micropropulsion system for nanosatellites developed by Microspace Rapid Pte Ltd of Singapore. A 3U cubesat named POPSAT-HIP1 has been developed by Microspace to demonstrate the functionality of multiple integrated payloads in orbit. One of the payloads is a Cold Gas Micropropulsion system based on the supersonic micronozzles developed by Microspace. The system has been integrated in the optical payload which serves also as pressurized propellant tank (1). Eight micronozzles have been placed on the corners and edges of the satellite to control three rotation axes and to allow for net force production for formation flight or station keeping along the orbit. The satellite has been launched on a Sun Synchronous Low Earth Orbit on 19th June 2014 by a DNEPR vehicle from Yasny in Russia. The propulsion system has been activated as soon as the satellite has reached orbit and has remained fully functional until the time of writing, 9 months after the launch. The nozzles have been fired under telecommand to produce ΔV in angular velocity which has been measured by the ADCS sensors: magnetometers, gyro and Sun sensors with data points collected every 3 to 5 seconds and transmitted to ground as telemetry data. Maneuvers results are presented and analyzed versus the expected values. The Conclusions present the estimation of the total ΔV produced during this mission, evaluated at about 2.25m/s and 3m/s.
