Session
Poster Session IV
Event Website
https://www.smallsat.org/index
Abstract
To meet the increasing need for launch opportunities for CubeSats, SSC has initiated project Rainbow, a European launch capability for small satellites from its launching facility Esrange Space Center. Project Rainbow is part of a bigger project with the aim to establish Esrange as a center of excellence providing a multitude of services, including CubeSat launch services, to the scientific community as well as commercial customers.
Today, there is already a queue of CubeSats looking for launch opportunities and a further increase is expected in the future. As the CubeSats and their applications become more sophisticated, the need to launch them into carefully designed orbits arises. Thus, there is a need for dedicated launchers for CubeSats which regularly launch into standardized orbits.
Esrange is located in the very north of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle (68°N, 21°E) and has access to a vast, unpopulated recovery area. The facility has been operated since 1966 and is presently used for sounding rocket and balloon launches. It also hosts one of the world's largest civilian satellite ground stations. Esrange is undergoing a major modernization and upgrade to become a European center of excellence. Apart from the launch service for CubeSats, coordinated measurements using satellites, sounding rockets, balloons and/or ground instrumentation will be possible.
The launch service from Esrange will enable a standardized orbit suitable for most CubeSats; sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude (inclination = 97.4°) with the ascending node at 0600, 2200, and 1400 ("dawn-dusk" orbit) Local Solar Time. By using the launch service on three consecutive launches a constellation of satellites covering every local time can be established. The launch periods, one to three per year, will be fixed. The total payload mass per launch is 150 kg.
A phase A study with the aim to investigate if a satellite launch service can be implemented at Esrange shows that it is technically feasible. A phase B1 study has recently been finalized which aimed for political endorsement, mainly in Sweden as well as obtaining data for the different launch vehicle options. As a result, a space investigation ordered by the Swedish government, published in 2015, recommends that a national coordinator is appointed with the task to, on behalf of the government, negotiate with relevant national and international stakeholders on the possibility of establishing a launch capability at Esrange. The evaluation of the launch vehicle options resulted in choosing the Brazilian/German VLM launcher as the base case. However, the final decision has not yet been taken and other launcher alternatives might be considered. The B2 phase will commence in 2016 and will include flight safety risk assessment, design of infrastructure at Esrange and orbit raiser design (concept and main engine) if the need for an orbit raiser is verified. A preferable choice for an orbit raiser will be based on ECAPS' High Performance Green Propulsion.
Esrange will be a "green" launch site meaning that Hydrazine and other highly toxic substances will be banned. The goal is to launch the first satellite in 2020.
Esrange Space Center - A Future Center of Excellence for CubeSats
To meet the increasing need for launch opportunities for CubeSats, SSC has initiated project Rainbow, a European launch capability for small satellites from its launching facility Esrange Space Center. Project Rainbow is part of a bigger project with the aim to establish Esrange as a center of excellence providing a multitude of services, including CubeSat launch services, to the scientific community as well as commercial customers.
Today, there is already a queue of CubeSats looking for launch opportunities and a further increase is expected in the future. As the CubeSats and their applications become more sophisticated, the need to launch them into carefully designed orbits arises. Thus, there is a need for dedicated launchers for CubeSats which regularly launch into standardized orbits.
Esrange is located in the very north of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle (68°N, 21°E) and has access to a vast, unpopulated recovery area. The facility has been operated since 1966 and is presently used for sounding rocket and balloon launches. It also hosts one of the world's largest civilian satellite ground stations. Esrange is undergoing a major modernization and upgrade to become a European center of excellence. Apart from the launch service for CubeSats, coordinated measurements using satellites, sounding rockets, balloons and/or ground instrumentation will be possible.
The launch service from Esrange will enable a standardized orbit suitable for most CubeSats; sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude (inclination = 97.4°) with the ascending node at 0600, 2200, and 1400 ("dawn-dusk" orbit) Local Solar Time. By using the launch service on three consecutive launches a constellation of satellites covering every local time can be established. The launch periods, one to three per year, will be fixed. The total payload mass per launch is 150 kg.
A phase A study with the aim to investigate if a satellite launch service can be implemented at Esrange shows that it is technically feasible. A phase B1 study has recently been finalized which aimed for political endorsement, mainly in Sweden as well as obtaining data for the different launch vehicle options. As a result, a space investigation ordered by the Swedish government, published in 2015, recommends that a national coordinator is appointed with the task to, on behalf of the government, negotiate with relevant national and international stakeholders on the possibility of establishing a launch capability at Esrange. The evaluation of the launch vehicle options resulted in choosing the Brazilian/German VLM launcher as the base case. However, the final decision has not yet been taken and other launcher alternatives might be considered. The B2 phase will commence in 2016 and will include flight safety risk assessment, design of infrastructure at Esrange and orbit raiser design (concept and main engine) if the need for an orbit raiser is verified. A preferable choice for an orbit raiser will be based on ECAPS' High Performance Green Propulsion.
Esrange will be a "green" launch site meaning that Hydrazine and other highly toxic substances will be banned. The goal is to launch the first satellite in 2020.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2016/Poster4/9
