A Low-Cost Femtosatellite to Enable Distributed Space Missions
- Paper number
IAC-06-B5.6.06
- Author
Mr. David J. Barnhart, Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Dr. Tanya Vladimirova, Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Dr. Adam M. Baker, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., United Kingdom
- Year
2006
- Abstract
A new dimension of space mission architecture design is emerging where hundreds to thousands of very small satellites will collectively perform missions, both earth-orbiting and interplanetary, in a distributed fashion. Solutions have already emerged for optimisation of complex distributed space mission architectures [1]. However, to support such architectures, a novel approach to high volume production of femto-scale (<100g) “satellites-on-a-chip” at low cost is required. The smallest and lightest functional satellite flown to date weighed in at 500g [2].
This paper reports on the first stage of a “satellite-on-a-chip” research project aimed at the development of a technique to design and fabricate self-powered wireless sensor nodes monolithically with commercially available complementary metal-on-silicon (CMOS) technology [3]. The work is novel and very challenging as no one has ever before integrated a sensor technology with wireless communication, data processing, and solar/self-powered technology integrated on one CMOS die. To support the idea and define the system architecture, a printed circuit board (PCB) level risk-reduction implementation has been designed. Based on the successful results achieved, this work paves the way for further miniaturization.
The complete design, implementation, and test results of an initial prototype femtosatellite called “ES-Femto” will be presented, in addition to a discussion on mission applications. The top-level programmatic requirement for ES-Femto was to support a generic distributed space mission, where a fleet of satellite sensor nodes are controlled by a master co-orbiting microsatellite. ES-Femto was designed and built using PCB integration and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, designs, and software for less than 1000 Euro. The chosen mission is an optical remote sensing mission in low-earth orbit (LEO) using a simple CMOS imager as the payload. By definition, the mass was constrained to 100g and the configuration was chosen to conform to PC104 standard (9 x 9.5 x 2 cm). Having set the mission, payload, and configuration, the detailed technical design was completed; this includes a full set of miniaturized satellite subsystems.
[1] C. D. Jilla and D. W. Miller, “Multi-Objective, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Methodology for Distributed Satellite Systems,” AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, vol. 41, No. 1, January–February 2004, pp. 39-50.
[2] W. Leary interview of S. W. Janson, “Giant Hopes for Tiny Satellites,” The New York Times, November 1999. [3] D. J. Barnhart, T. Vladimirova, and M. S. Sweeting, “Satellite-on-a-Chip: A Feasibility Study,” in Proc. 5th Round Table on Micro/Nano Technologies for Space, Nordwijk, The Netherlands, 2005.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-B5.6.06.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.