MISTRAL: Air-Launchable Micro-Satellite with Re-Entry Capability

Abstract

The MISTRAL Satellite Program, conceived in the context of the new founded Aerospace District of Campania Region (DAC), is here presented. This satellite is a 20–30 kg class spacecraft provided with a deployable flexible aero-brake shield suitable to deorbit the vehicle and to return it to Earth in a selected recovery area. The spacecraft is equipped with a payload compartment able to accommodate a variety of instruments to allow the project to satisfy a large number of missions ranging from Radiation Measurement to Exobiology to Atmospheric Mapping to Earth Observation. The Spacecraft does not have any propulsion system, and therefore its operation could be considered extremely safe, opening also the possibility to be used onboard ISS as Space Mail for the return of samples to Earth. The control of the satellite along its orbit is achieved with the modulation of the opening of the shield. An onboard orbital propagator software, together with a GPS providing the real-time position of the spacecraft, are linked to the GNC to implement the autonomous control law for the orbital change needed to allow the satellite to enter into the final re-entry trajectory in the requested location. The aero-brake shield is also used as reentry shield to protect the satellite from the heavy thermal load. The paper presents the concept of the spacecraft and its specific ground segment requested to track the satellite and to control its descend phase. The project plan and the programmatic aspects are also illustrated together with the main components, their characteristics and the key technologies associated.