Goliat Space Mission: Earth Observation and Near Earth Environment Monitoring Using Nanosatellites

Paper number

IAC-08.B4.6.A13

Author

Mr. Mugurel Balan, Institute for Space Sciences Bucharest, Romania

Coauthor

Prof. Marius-Ioan Piso, Romanian Space Agency, Romania

Coauthor

Mr. Marius Florin Trusculescu, Institute for Space Sciences, Romania

Coauthor

Mr. Claudiu Gabriel Dragasanu, Romanian Space Agency, Romania

Coauthor

Ms. Corina Mihaela Dumitru, Institute for Space Sciences Bucharest, Romania

Coauthor

Prof. Adrian Mihail Stoica, Romanian Space Agency, Romania

Year

2008

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of the GOLIAT space mission. The project’s primary scientific goal is to validate the design and implementation of an advance scientific payload, consisting of Earth observation and near space monitoring experiments, onboard of a cubesat type nanosatellite.  
Reaching this main scientific objective by obtaining useful data from onboard sensors will demonstrate that cubesat missions can exceed their educational purpose and nanosatellites can be used in scientific missions with a significant decrease of costs.
The continuous development of microelectronics in the field of communications and data processing makes possible the integration of high performance, low power consumption data processing units, transceivers, GPS modules, etc. Therefore, standard satellite subsystems as electronic power supply, attitude determination and control system and radio communications can now be implemented on nanosatellites together with even more complex systems specific to large spacecrafts as reaction wheels or micropropulsion.
From a scientific point of view, a nanosatellite can be considered a viable platform for various experiments in space related fields as microgravity, Earth observation and environment monitoring. 
Furthermore, during the cubesat Goliat development phase a high integration factor was obtained by customizing COTS components and using in-house design for specific subsystems. In this way, a momentum wheels attitude control system was integrated together with tree scientific experiments including micrometeorites detection, total dose of radiation measurement and a 3MP high resolution camera integrated with a 6o solid angle lens mount.
Starting from the GOLIAT cubesat concept, a future more complex nanosatellite formation flying mission is schedule for 2010. The formation control shall be reached by implementing micro thrusters propulsion technology onboard cubesats together with a decentralized inter unit communication protocol able to handle data fusion and parallel processing issues.      
Formation flying of low cost nanosatellites can be considered a viable alternative of a large satellite with suitable applications on extended area experiments. Also, formation unit dispensability is a big advantage as the formation mission is not affected by loss of one or more nanosatellites.

Abstract document

IAC-08.B4.6.A13.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.B4.6.A13.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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