On orbit validation of solar sailing control laws with thin-film spacecraft
Author(s)
Johnson, M
McCann, J
Santer, M
Baoyin, H
Gong, S
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Many innovative approaches to solar sail mission and trajectory design have been proposed over the years, but very
few ever have the opportunity to be validated on orbit with real spacecraft. Thin-
Film Spacecraft/Lander/Rovers (TF-SL
Rs)
are a new class of very low cost, low mass space vehicle which are ideal for inexpensively and quickly testing in flight new
approaches to solar sailing. This paper describes using TF-
SLR based micro solar sails to implement a generic solar sail test
bed on orbit.
TF
-SLRs are high area-
to-mass ratio (A/m) spacecraft developed for very low cost consumer and scientific
deep space missions. Typically based on a 5 μm or thinner metalised substrate, they include an integrated avionics and
payload system
-on-chip (SoC) die bonded to the substrate with passive components and solar cells printed or deposited by
Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD). The avionics include UHF/S-
band transceivers, processors,
storage, sensors and attitude control provided
by integrated magnetorquers and reflectivity control devices. Resulting
spacecraft have a typical thickness of less than 50 μm, are 80 mm in diameter, and have a mass of less than 100 mg
resulting in sail loads of less than 20 g/m
2
. TF
-SLRs are currently
designed for direct dispensing
in swarms from free flying
0.5U Interplanetary CubeSats or
dispensers
attached to launch vehicles. Larger 160
mm, 320
mm and 640
mm diameter
TF
-SLRs utilizing a CubeSat compatible TWIST deployment mechanism that maintains the
high A/m ratio are also under
development.
We are developing a mission to demonstrate the utility of these devices as a test bed for experimenting with a
variety of mission designs and control laws. Batches of up to one hundred TF-
SLRs will be released on
earth escape
trajectories, with each batch executing a heterogeneous or homogenous mixture of control laws and experiments. Up to four
releases at different points in orbit are currently envisaged with experiments currently being studied in MATLAB and
GMA
T including managing the rate of separation of individual spacecraft, station keeping and single
deployment/substantially divergent trajectory development. It is also hoped to be able to demonstrate uploading new
experiment designs while in orbit and to make this capability available to researchers around the world. A suitable earth
escape mission is currently being sought and it is hoped the test bed could be on orbit in 2017/18.
few ever have the opportunity to be validated on orbit with real spacecraft. Thin-
Film Spacecraft/Lander/Rovers (TF-SL
Rs)
are a new class of very low cost, low mass space vehicle which are ideal for inexpensively and quickly testing in flight new
approaches to solar sailing. This paper describes using TF-
SLR based micro solar sails to implement a generic solar sail test
bed on orbit.
TF
-SLRs are high area-
to-mass ratio (A/m) spacecraft developed for very low cost consumer and scientific
deep space missions. Typically based on a 5 μm or thinner metalised substrate, they include an integrated avionics and
payload system
-on-chip (SoC) die bonded to the substrate with passive components and solar cells printed or deposited by
Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD). The avionics include UHF/S-
band transceivers, processors,
storage, sensors and attitude control provided
by integrated magnetorquers and reflectivity control devices. Resulting
spacecraft have a typical thickness of less than 50 μm, are 80 mm in diameter, and have a mass of less than 100 mg
resulting in sail loads of less than 20 g/m
2
. TF
-SLRs are currently
designed for direct dispensing
in swarms from free flying
0.5U Interplanetary CubeSats or
dispensers
attached to launch vehicles. Larger 160
mm, 320
mm and 640
mm diameter
TF
-SLRs utilizing a CubeSat compatible TWIST deployment mechanism that maintains the
high A/m ratio are also under
development.
We are developing a mission to demonstrate the utility of these devices as a test bed for experimenting with a
variety of mission designs and control laws. Batches of up to one hundred TF-
SLRs will be released on
earth escape
trajectories, with each batch executing a heterogeneous or homogenous mixture of control laws and experiments. Up to four
releases at different points in orbit are currently envisaged with experiments currently being studied in MATLAB and
GMA
T including managing the rate of separation of individual spacecraft, station keeping and single
deployment/substantially divergent trajectory development. It is also hoped to be able to demonstrate uploading new
experiment designs while in orbit and to make this capability available to researchers around the world. A suitable earth
escape mission is currently being sought and it is hoped the test bed could be on orbit in 2017/18.
Date Issued
2017-01-31
Date Acceptance
2017-01-17
Citation
2017
Publisher
Japan Space Forum
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Michael Johnson. This
work is
licensed
under a
Creative Commons Attribution
–
NonCommercial
–
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
work is
licensed
under a
Creative Commons Attribution
–
NonCommercial
–
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Sponsor
UK Space Agency
Grant Number
RP10G0348E32
Source
The Fourth International Symposium on Solar Sailing
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2017-01-17
Finish Date
2017-01-20
Coverage Spatial
Kyoto, Japan