Session
Technical Session II: Future Missions 1
Abstract
Demand for higher resolution imaging and various science missions have necessitated large synthetic apertures, thus formation flying spacecraft. This situation has led to a sustained interest in formation flight and associated technologies like metrology, distributed control, relative dynamics modeling and autonomous operation. However, current mission concepts require undemonstrated technologies which must be quickly developed and space matured to enable the flight of these missions. We’ve developed a mission concept inspired by the technology requirements driven by InSAR. The concept clearly marks the sophistication nano satellites have reached. The mission will consist of three modes in which we first launch two spacecraft joined together and do subsystem verification and orbit checkout of them. Later on these spacecraft are separated by virtue of a flexible rod which extends and constrains their relative motion. We test our on-board laser metrology, vision based attitude and distance sensor, and cross navigation experiments. This mode also enables us to test the distributed control flexible spacecraft structures. Finally the rod is released from the middle and retracted to allow the demonstration of precision free flying formation.
Presentation Slides
A Next Generation Test-bed for Large Aperture Imaging Applications
Demand for higher resolution imaging and various science missions have necessitated large synthetic apertures, thus formation flying spacecraft. This situation has led to a sustained interest in formation flight and associated technologies like metrology, distributed control, relative dynamics modeling and autonomous operation. However, current mission concepts require undemonstrated technologies which must be quickly developed and space matured to enable the flight of these missions. We’ve developed a mission concept inspired by the technology requirements driven by InSAR. The concept clearly marks the sophistication nano satellites have reached. The mission will consist of three modes in which we first launch two spacecraft joined together and do subsystem verification and orbit checkout of them. Later on these spacecraft are separated by virtue of a flexible rod which extends and constrains their relative motion. We test our on-board laser metrology, vision based attitude and distance sensor, and cross navigation experiments. This mode also enables us to test the distributed control flexible spacecraft structures. Finally the rod is released from the middle and retracted to allow the demonstration of precision free flying formation.
