European Formation Flying GNC Development for Small Missions

Paper number

IAC-08.B4.7.6

Author

Ms. Cristina de Negueruela, GMV S.A., Spain

Coauthor

Ms. Cristina de Negueruela, GMV S.A., Spain

Coauthor

Mr. Salvador Llorente-Martínez, SENER Ingeneria y Sistemas, S.A., Spain

Coauthor

Mr. carmelo carrascosa, GMV SA, Spain

Year

2008

Abstract

In the frame of the PROBA-3 Formation Flying technology demonstrator mission, Spanish companies SENER and GMV and Swedish company SSC are currently carrying out developments in Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) technologies for formation flying. Even if the primary target of PROBA-3 formation flying developments are ESA Cosmic Vision missions Xeus and Darwin, small missions can benefit of this novel technology to a very large extent.

For example, Formation Flying GNC is a key technique to enable “virtual structure” missions that, using small spacecrafts flying with a fixed relative geometry, synthesise a giant structure-less instrument. A typical example is a flying telescope composed by a lens-spacecraft and a receptor-spacecraft separated tens of meters. Another application of virtual structures is a Sun coronagraph (guest payload onboard PROBA-3), where one satellite is used to eclipse the Sun flying at 150 meters from the detector spacecraft. 

In the field of small Earth observation missions, Formation Flying GNC technology will enable high accuracy multi-spacecraft SAR topographic levelling. 

Centralised Formation Flying GNC technology can be used for autonomous commanding of wirelessly interconnected spacecraft or spacecraft modules replacing the traditional spacecraft architecture by a set of small components easy to deploy and replace in case of need. 

The paper will describe in detail the potential (re)-use of the PROBA-3 Formation Flying GNC system for future small missions.

Abstract document

IAC-08.B4.7.6.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.B4.7.6.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.