Nanosatellite Cluster Launch Collision Analysis

Abstract

AbstractNanospacecraft are usually launched in clusters from a single launch, in which they are hosted as secondary payloads. The nanospacecraft, e.g., CubeSats, are usually released simultaneously in small groups from one single container, to simplify the launcher interface manufacturing and the launch operations. The release sequence must be designed to minimize the risk of collisions among the nanospacecraft themselves. Considering the increasing number of micro- and nanosatellites in recent space activity, a collision risk analysis and a release systems configuration optimization are of interest. This paper describes a collision probability analysis for a nanosatellite cluster deployment, performed by a series of Monte Carlo simulations, comparing results obtained with different release mechanisms, procedures, and orbital dynamics modeling assumptions. The collision risk in the first orbits after launch depends mostly on the in-orbit injection initial conditions, such as relative initial position and ...