Session
Technical Session V: New Spacecraft Bus Concepts
Abstract
This paper summarizes the work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the development, integration and testing of the critical enabling technologies needed for the realization of agile micro-satellites (or MicroSats). Our objective is to develop autonomous, agile MicroSats weighing between 20 to 40 kilograms, with at least 300 m/s of Δv, that are capable of performing precision maneuvers in space, including satellite rendezvous, inspection, proximity operations, docking, and servicing missions. The MicroSat carries on-board a host of light-weight sensors and actuators, inertial navigation instruments, and advanced avionics. The avionics architecture is based on the CompactPCI bus and PowerPC processor family. This modular design leverages commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, allowing early integration and testing. The CompactPCI bus is a high-performance, processor independent I/O bus that minimizes the effects of future processor upgrades. PowerPCs are powerful RISC processors with significant inherent radiation tolerance. The MicroSat software development environment uses the space flight proven Vx-Works, a commonly used, well tested, real-time operating system that provides a rapid development environment for integration of new software modules. The MicroSat is a 3-axis stabilized vehicle which uses cold gas N2 for ACS and a novel pressure-fed, non-toxic, monopropellant hydrogen peroxide propulsion system for maneuvering.
Autonomous, Agile, Micro-Satellites and Supporting Technologies for Use in Low-Earth Orbit Missions
This paper summarizes the work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the development, integration and testing of the critical enabling technologies needed for the realization of agile micro-satellites (or MicroSats). Our objective is to develop autonomous, agile MicroSats weighing between 20 to 40 kilograms, with at least 300 m/s of Δv, that are capable of performing precision maneuvers in space, including satellite rendezvous, inspection, proximity operations, docking, and servicing missions. The MicroSat carries on-board a host of light-weight sensors and actuators, inertial navigation instruments, and advanced avionics. The avionics architecture is based on the CompactPCI bus and PowerPC processor family. This modular design leverages commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, allowing early integration and testing. The CompactPCI bus is a high-performance, processor independent I/O bus that minimizes the effects of future processor upgrades. PowerPCs are powerful RISC processors with significant inherent radiation tolerance. The MicroSat software development environment uses the space flight proven Vx-Works, a commonly used, well tested, real-time operating system that provides a rapid development environment for integration of new software modules. The MicroSat is a 3-axis stabilized vehicle which uses cold gas N2 for ACS and a novel pressure-fed, non-toxic, monopropellant hydrogen peroxide propulsion system for maneuvering.
