Session
Poster Session 4
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
Goal: a distributed space antenna built from 10,000+ palm-sized satellites, operating together as a single phased-array antenna for direct-to-device communication from orbit [1, 2].
Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) generates magnetic forces and torques between satellites by controlling their coil currents, enabling propellant-free control of relative position and attitude [3, 4, 5].
However, every coil interacts with every other coil, so unwanted pairs must be magnetically decoupled. Multi-satellite ground validation is also difficult: air-bearing facilities limit the number of units and the test area [6, 7].
This work presents a water-floating testbed and a ten-satellite experiment comparing two magnetic decoupling strategies.
Document Type
Event
Included in
Water-Floating Experimental Validation of Magnetic Decoupling Strategies for Electromagnetic Formation Flight Using Palm-Sized Satellites
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Goal: a distributed space antenna built from 10,000+ palm-sized satellites, operating together as a single phased-array antenna for direct-to-device communication from orbit [1, 2].
Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) generates magnetic forces and torques between satellites by controlling their coil currents, enabling propellant-free control of relative position and attitude [3, 4, 5].
However, every coil interacts with every other coil, so unwanted pairs must be magnetically decoupled. Multi-satellite ground validation is also difficult: air-bearing facilities limit the number of units and the test area [6, 7].
This work presents a water-floating testbed and a ten-satellite experiment comparing two magnetic decoupling strategies.
