Technical challenges and system requirements for a very low perigee satellite, a comprehensive design study

Paper number

IAC-11,B1,2,12,x10525

Author

Dr. Farid Gamgami, OHB System AG, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Dominik Quantius, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Christian von Savigny, University of Bremen, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Volker Maiwald, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany

Year

2011

Abstract

The results of a DLR feasibility study \footnote{{\it Feasibility Study AHAB}, DLR-RY-CE-R004-2010-1, Release 2010} concerning a very low perigee satellite with a mass of about 600 kg shall be presented in this paper. A team of 17 engineers and scientists used the Concurrent Engineering Facility of the DLR Institute in Bremen in order to design a consistent satellite that fulfills the mission objectives. The scientific goal of the mission is the investigation of the wave signature in the background density, temperature and minor constituent fields with high vertical resolution in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere region in combination with tomographic retrievals. Secondary mission objectives are the investigation of orbital dynamics in order to deduce atmospheric parameters (density, wind) and aerodynamic coefficients (for drag and angular momentum) as well as the analysis of the satellite’s GLOW and the gas kinetic behaviour of the transition regime between rarefied and continuum flow. The satellite is therefore supposed to dip deep into the atmosphere (130km x 800km) with a minimum lifetime of 50 days with different extension opportunities.\\
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The paper starts with a short presentation of the Institute’s Concurrent Engineering Facility and its capabilities connected with the benefits of Concurrent Engineering. It then describes the mission objectives of the satellite and the imposed programmatic constraints. The envisaged instruments and their special requirements are assessed and the mission and system requirements are then derived and discussed.\\
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In its second part, the paper starts with highlighting the main obstacle for such a mission, the atmospheric drag and its influence on the design of a low perigee satellite. The mission analysis will then be discussed in detail and the subsystems of the satellite bus that are most affected by this peculiar mission scenario will then be presented. The mass and power budgets will be presented for each subsystem. Given a limited amount of fuel several mission scenarios are possible. Two of them will be presented that enhance mission flexibility and extend nominal operation time. This part ends with the identification of the technological and physical challenges that constrain such a mission.\\
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Based on the first and second part, the challenges and benefits of such a mission will be discussed in the context of cost, TRL and uncertainties.

Abstract document

IAC-11,B1,2,12,x10525.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

(absent)