Session
Technical Session III: Military Uses Of Small Satellites In Distributed Systems
Abstract
The Virginia Tech Ionospheric Scintillation Measurement Mission (VTISMM) is a small spacecraft design, build, and fly project being funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The mission concept includes one 10 kg spacecraft that will fly in formation with two similar satellites being built by students at Utah State University and the University of Washington. The three satellites will fly in close proximity, using GPS receivers for position determination, microsensors for attitude determination, interlink communications for data transmission and relative position determination, microthrusters and differential drag for formation-keeping, and GlobalStar for telemetry, tracking, and commanding. The three satellites will share two ground stations to be located at Utah State and Virginia Tech. The VTISMM science mission focuses on collecting and analyzing GPS data to characterize ionospheric scintillation effects on the communications signals, and all three satellites will operate probes for collecting additional data about the ionosphere. The three-satellite formation is called the Ionosphere Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F), and will be launched on a space shuttle via the Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS).
Virginia Tech Ionospheric Scintillation Measurement Mission
The Virginia Tech Ionospheric Scintillation Measurement Mission (VTISMM) is a small spacecraft design, build, and fly project being funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The mission concept includes one 10 kg spacecraft that will fly in formation with two similar satellites being built by students at Utah State University and the University of Washington. The three satellites will fly in close proximity, using GPS receivers for position determination, microsensors for attitude determination, interlink communications for data transmission and relative position determination, microthrusters and differential drag for formation-keeping, and GlobalStar for telemetry, tracking, and commanding. The three satellites will share two ground stations to be located at Utah State and Virginia Tech. The VTISMM science mission focuses on collecting and analyzing GPS data to characterize ionospheric scintillation effects on the communications signals, and all three satellites will operate probes for collecting additional data about the ionosphere. The three-satellite formation is called the Ionosphere Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F), and will be launched on a space shuttle via the Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS).
