All 2015 Content
Session
Technical Session I: All Systems Go!
Abstract
In November 2014, only four months following launch, the CanX–4 and CanX–5 dual-spacecraft formation-flying mission achieved what has never been accomplished before, and successfully completed all of its mission goals with unprecedented precision and speed. This achievement—a series of autonomous formations with sub-metre control and centimetre-level relative position knowledge at the nanosatellite scale—was preceded by a rapid commissioning phase and orbit acquisition manoeuvres, which brought the two satellites from a maximum range of 2300 km to a closest controlled range of 50m during formation flight. Launched on 30 June 2014 from Sriharikota, India on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), CanX–4 and CanX–5 were deployed separately following launch, after which a series of drift recovery manoeuvres were executed to bring the spacecraft within communications range of each other. Subsequently, the spacecraft used onboard propulsion, an S-band intersatellite communications link, and relative navigation using carrier-phase differential GPS techniques to perform a series of precise, controlled, autonomous formations from 1km range down to 50m separation. The achievements of CanX–4 and CanX–5 have set the high mark for small satellite formation flight, and the technologies and algorithms developed for this mission enable a number of future applications, from on-orbit inspection and repair to sparse aperture sensing, interferometry, and ground-moving target indication. This paper describes the CanX–4 and CanX–5 mission and its exciting results, with an emphasis on launch, commissioning, relative orbit acquisition and phasing, and autonomous formation flight.
Presentation
CanX–4 and CanX–5 Precision Formation Flight: Mission Accomplished!
In November 2014, only four months following launch, the CanX–4 and CanX–5 dual-spacecraft formation-flying mission achieved what has never been accomplished before, and successfully completed all of its mission goals with unprecedented precision and speed. This achievement—a series of autonomous formations with sub-metre control and centimetre-level relative position knowledge at the nanosatellite scale—was preceded by a rapid commissioning phase and orbit acquisition manoeuvres, which brought the two satellites from a maximum range of 2300 km to a closest controlled range of 50m during formation flight. Launched on 30 June 2014 from Sriharikota, India on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), CanX–4 and CanX–5 were deployed separately following launch, after which a series of drift recovery manoeuvres were executed to bring the spacecraft within communications range of each other. Subsequently, the spacecraft used onboard propulsion, an S-band intersatellite communications link, and relative navigation using carrier-phase differential GPS techniques to perform a series of precise, controlled, autonomous formations from 1km range down to 50m separation. The achievements of CanX–4 and CanX–5 have set the high mark for small satellite formation flight, and the technologies and algorithms developed for this mission enable a number of future applications, from on-orbit inspection and repair to sparse aperture sensing, interferometry, and ground-moving target indication. This paper describes the CanX–4 and CanX–5 mission and its exciting results, with an emphasis on launch, commissioning, relative orbit acquisition and phasing, and autonomous formation flight.
