Session
Pre-Conference: CubeSat Developers' Workshop
Abstract
Several electrospray thrusters are in development for CubeSats, including variants that require high power but in return yield significantly higher ΔV. In order to analyze the capabilities provided by such thrusters, a Mission Modeling Tool (MMT) is developed that combines reports from Satellite Toolkit (STK) with MATLAB programming and a GUI interface in order to analyze the state of health of satellite subsystems over a period of time. After developing MMT, several scenarios are analyzed for a CubeSat outfitted with a 56-W solar array, carrying a payload of eight electrospray thrusters, and established in a Sun Synchronous (SSO) orbit. First, satellite orientations and the effects of Local Time of Ascending Node (LTAN) on the power provided in a 600 km SSO are studied. Next, generic power scenarios are analyzed for pointing and ΔV experiments in order to determine the optimal number of thrusters and modes that should be utilized. It is shown that pointing experiments should use two thrusters in active mode with two in standby, while the ΔV experiment should use a combination of three and four thrusters in active mode. In this manner, 1 km/s of ΔV can be reached in 177.7 days.
Presentation Slides
Electrospray Mission Modeling for CubeSats
Several electrospray thrusters are in development for CubeSats, including variants that require high power but in return yield significantly higher ΔV. In order to analyze the capabilities provided by such thrusters, a Mission Modeling Tool (MMT) is developed that combines reports from Satellite Toolkit (STK) with MATLAB programming and a GUI interface in order to analyze the state of health of satellite subsystems over a period of time. After developing MMT, several scenarios are analyzed for a CubeSat outfitted with a 56-W solar array, carrying a payload of eight electrospray thrusters, and established in a Sun Synchronous (SSO) orbit. First, satellite orientations and the effects of Local Time of Ascending Node (LTAN) on the power provided in a 600 km SSO are studied. Next, generic power scenarios are analyzed for pointing and ΔV experiments in order to determine the optimal number of thrusters and modes that should be utilized. It is shown that pointing experiments should use two thrusters in active mode with two in standby, while the ΔV experiment should use a combination of three and four thrusters in active mode. In this manner, 1 km/s of ΔV can be reached in 177.7 days.
