Abstract
ABSTRACTA growing interest in constellations of small satellites has recently emerged due to the increasing capability of these platforms and their reduced time and cost of development. However, in the absence of dedicated launch services for these systems, alternative methods for the deployment of these constellations must be considered which can take advantage of the availability of secondary-payload launch opportunities. Furthermore, a means of exploring the effects and tradeoffs in corresponding system architectures is required. This paper presents a methodology to integrate the deployment of constellations of small satellites into the wider design process for these systems. Using a method of design-space exploration, enhanced understanding of the tradespace is supported , whilst identification of system designs for development is enabled by the application of an optimisation process. To demonstrate the method, a simplified analysis framework and a multiobjective genetic algorithm are implemented for three mission case-studies with differing application. The first two cases, modelled on existing constellations, indicate the benefits of design-space exploration, and possible savings which could be made in cost, system mass, or deployment time. The third case, based on a proposed Earth observation nanosatellite constellation, focuses on deployment following launch using a secondary-payload opportunity and demonstrates the breadth of feasible solutions which may not be considered if only point-designs are generated by a priori analysis. These results indicate that the presented method can support the development of future constellations of small satellites by improving the knowledge of different deployment strategies available during the early design phases and through enhanced exploration and identification of promising design alternatives.
Highlights
Constellations of small satellites have been recognised as an enabling architecture for a variety of new mission types of commercial, scientific, and military significance[1,2,3]
Due to the typical regime of constellations of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and constrained nature of the propulsion systems used by these spacecraft, an analysis method for deployment which can accommodate the effects of orbital drag is required, increasing the complexity and computational cost of obtaining this information
The methodology presented in this paper enables the consideration of the deployment of constellations of small satellites during the wider design process through the use of an integrated analysis framework approach
Summary
Constellations of small satellites have been recognised as an enabling architecture for a variety of new mission types of commercial, scientific, and military significance[1,2,3]. A number of strategies for the deployment of small satellites into multi-plane constellation configurations have been proposed which can reduce the propulsive requirements, system complexity, or cost. Methods for the analysis of small satellite constellation deployment have begun to emerge, demonstrating potential benefits of increased access-to-orbit, reduced spacecraft complexity, and reduced system cost. By using these analyses the issues of a priori selection or incomplete analysis can be addressed, resulting in improved system designs. Demonstration of this integrated analysis is presented using an example framework and series of case-studies in which the design-space exploration process is demonstrated, providing valuable insight into the system tradeoffs associated with the deployment selection
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