Commercial Missions Research Articles

A holistic approach for efficient greener in-space propulsion

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for designing in-space propulsion systems, integrating four criteria: global propulsive performance, environmental impact, cost efficiency, and architectural reliability. The study focuses on the emerging class of Orbital Transfer Vehicles to illustrate the application of this method. By examining the synergistic potential of OTVs and greener propellants, the paper addresses different mission scenarios, including LEO, GEO, and lunar missions, with both scientific and commercial objectives. The proposed framework aims to go beyond traditional cost-centric approaches, offering a more complete evaluation method for early design phases. A case study comparing three liquid bipropellant options, pressure-fed MON-3/MMH, 98%-HTP/RP-1, and self-pressurizing N2O/Ethane, demonstrates the utility of the tool. Findings suggest that scientific missions benefit most from 98%-HTP/RP-1, while traditional propellants remain preferable for cost-driven commercial missions to GEO and the Moon, though greener alternatives are competitive for less demanding LEO missions. This innovative framework aims to guide the selection of propulsion systems to achieve greener space missions, aligning traditional performance figures with environmental responsibility.

Transcriptomics analysis reveals molecular alterations underpinning spaceflight dermatology

BackgroundSpaceflight poses a unique set of challenges to humans and the hostile spaceflight environment can induce a wide range of increased health risks, including dermatological issues. The biology driving the frequency of skin issues in astronauts is currently not well understood.MethodsTo address this issue, we used a systems biology approach utilizing NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) on space flown murine transcriptomic datasets focused on the skin, biochemical profiles of 50 NASA astronauts and human transcriptomic datasets generated from blood and hair samples of JAXA astronauts, as well as blood samples obtained from the NASA Twins Study, and skin and blood samples from the first civilian commercial mission, Inspiration4.ResultsKey biological changes related to skin health, DNA damage & repair, and mitochondrial dysregulation are identified as potential drivers for skin health risks during spaceflight. Additionally, a machine learning model is utilized to determine gene pairings associated with spaceflight response in the skin. While we identified spaceflight-induced dysregulation, such as alterations in genes associated with skin barrier function and collagen formation, our results also highlight the remarkable ability for organisms to re-adapt back to Earth via post-flight re-tuning of gene expression.ConclusionOur findings can guide future research on developing countermeasures for mitigating spaceflight-associated skin damage.

Automated mission planning for aerial large‐scale power plant thermal inspection

AbstractClose‐range aerial inspection of large‐scale industrial facilities such as power plants is complex. It is characterized by a few areas suitable for safe landing, many obstacles, complicated radio communication, and so forth. The paper presented a new offline approach for automated mission planning in such conditions. It is based on novel concepts of ‐shaped flight profile and safe altitude map. These concepts reduce the mission planning task to a multiple traveling salesmen problem on a two‐dimensional map, which is solved using rapidly exploring random tree and genetic algorithms. A computational fluid dynamics‐based local turbulence map concept was proposed to avoid turbulence zones during inspection flights. As an advantage, this map can be generated at least 6.8× faster than the known approaches. Our new multicopter flight time prediction model provides an error of less than 10% in most cases and significantly outperforms those implemented in commercial mission planning software. All the proposed solutions were verified during a 2400‐MW power plant inspection. Our algorithms managed to plan to visit all the inspection points in six routes, approximately 15 min long each. This mission set has a comparable overall duration but better safety and even battery usage compared with the routes planned by a qualified operator. Moreover, the designed aerial inspection system provides higher quality images than manually from the ground using a thermal camera with two times higher sensitivity and equipped with more advanced optics. To our knowledge, this research is the first to report the successful implementation of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle‐based power equipment diagnostics on a large‐scale thermal power plant.

Can we serve both God and Money? The role of indirect appeal and its limitation

PurposeHarmonizing religion and economic pursuits is treacherous because mixing the two rarely resonate with consumers, often resulting consumers’ greed perceptions. This paper aims to explore the antecedents and consequence of consumers’ greed perceptions in the context of for-profit religious-affiliated companies (FPRCs) and how they can harmonize religious and commercial missions by using different ad types (direct vs indirect appeal).Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two experiments: Study 1 was an online experiment with participants from the USA collected through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n = 410) to reveal the overall mechanism. Study 2 was a field experiment (n = 292) to corroborate Study 1’s findings. The authors analyzed the data using a multigroup structural equation model.FindingsFirst, consumers perceive greed against FPRCs’ dual identities incurred by their commercial activities. Second, when FPRCs obscure their religious identities by using third-party organizations (TPOs) as its promoter (i.e. indirect appeal), consumers’ greed perceptions decline, but this does not increase consumers’ future patronage intentions. Finally, in online and field experiments, consumers enhance their purchase intentions and behavior, respectively, under indirect appeal.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, further investigation of the cognitive dissonance mechanism when consumers face seemingly contradictory identities of organizations is crucial to identify bottlenecks in promoting FPRCs’ commercial offerings. Second, examining boundary conditions of indirect appeal is important to enhance our understanding of FPRCs’ advertising, such as consumers’ awareness of TPOs’ intentionality. Lastly, not every type of indirect appeal brings the same effects. Future studies may explore diverse forms of indirect appeal, such as using artificial intelligence-based algorithms without TPOs.Practical implicationsDespite heightened interest in supporting dual missions (i.e. purpose and profit), this study shows why doing well while doing good is inherently challenging in practice creating marketing liability. To deal with this, the present findings suggest that, first, rather than exposing an FPRC’s religious (or communal) identity upfront, providing subtle cues through a TPO of its religious affiliation can be persuasive to win the hearts of target customers. Second, given the short-term effectiveness of indirect appeal, FPRCs need to use both direct and indirect appeal flexibly, as each type of ad delivers a distinctive advantage. Lastly, indirect appeal is particularly effective in offline promotional activities in the context of FPRCs.Originality/valueFirst, by meshing paradox theory, the authors show that dual identities of FPRCs expose them to a marketing liability that single-mission enterprises rarely face. Second, when FPRCs use indirect appeal, they face a tradeoff between mitigating greed perception and securing future patronage. Third, results from the online experiment and field experiment show when consumers’ intention and actual behavior align.

Cestopisno-memoárová próza 18. storočia vo francúzštine: literárne črty Pamätí baróna Františka Tótha a ich miesto v súdobej literárnej tvorbe

This article describes the place of the literary genre of travelogue memoirs in the context of French literature in the 18th century. It analyzes the creation of this genre which is marked by hybridity and bears the characteristic traits of an autobiography, travelogue and memoirs. The typical case of this literary genre is a travelogue and memorialistic prose Memoirs of Turks and Tartars, written by Baron Francis de Tott, the son of a Hungarian squire and soldier who was born in France but acquired a lingustic education in Istanbul in the famous school for interpreters. As an official of the French royal court, he participated in various diplomatic and commercial missions in the Ottoman Empire. Knowing the Turkish world very well, in his text he furnishes a brilliant insight into the moslim world, which was perceived as exotic by his European coevals. The main goal of this article is to show the narrativity of this literary genre and to examine the main literary practices or techniques applied by this author who wasn‘t, by his personal itinerary, the man who wields the pen, but rather the diplomat and son of a soldier, with a light touch of adventurer as the majority of memorialistic travelogue authors in the 18th century.

Components of Electrical Power Systems in More and All-Electric Aircraft: A Review

Even though achieving carbon-free and reduced NOx emission transportation is a prevailing goal, the aviation industry is in its infancy to arrive at passenger class all-electric aircraft (AEA) properly operating over commercial missions. Challenges are mainly associated with the components of the aircraft electric power system (EPS). Considering today’s technologies, power electronics components are not capable to sustain tens of megawatts of required power during the takeoff and meet the aviation limits in terms of size, weight, and cost at the same time. The state-of-the-art electrochemical energy units (EEUs), including battery, fuel cell, and supercapacitor, cannot provide the 25–30-MW thrust power needed for the takeoff, and electrical circuit breakers (CBs) are not able to clear a fault in a large AEA propulsion system, and multimegawatt electric drives/motors can barely be found being able to provide 2–3-MW thrust power, so that they can be employed in a distributed propulsion architecture. Taking mentioned challenges into account, this article aims to tackle challenges associated with protection devices, EEUs, and electric machines in passenger class AEA and present promising solutions using an envisioned medium voltage direct current ±5-kV EPS for an AEA, all-electric NASA N3-X aircraft. Based on findings and discussions made through this article, the authors conclude that although technology advancements are essential in all research areas, high-voltage wide bandgap electrical CBs, Li-air and Li-S batteries with >1000-kW/kg specific power, and multimegawatt superconducting electric machines will turn a commercialized passenger class AEA into reality within the next 20–30 years.

Institutional work to navigate ethical dilemmas: Evidence from a social enterprise

Social entrepreneurs encounter ethical dilemmas while addressing their social and commercial missions. The literature has implicitly acknowledged the ethical dilemmas social entrepreneurs face; however, the nature and implications of these ethical dilemmas and how social entrepreneurs navigate them are underexplored and undertheorized. We address this by conducting a 36-month field study of a social enterprise operating in a rural resource-constrained environment in India and dealing with a stigmatized product. We found four categories of ethical dilemmas faced by social entrepreneurs: challenges in engaging the community (equality vs. efficiency and fairness vs. care), challenges related to spillover effects (right vs. responsibilities), challenges in balancing diverse stakeholders (emotionally detached vs. emotionally engaged), and challenges related to cross-subsidization efforts (utilitarianism vs. fairness). Further, we identified three types of institutional work social entrepreneurs engage in to address ethical dilemmas: recognition work, responsibilization work, and reflective judgment work. We label these three institutional works as inclusion work - purposive actions of an entity to address ethical dilemmas by implementing its program in a way that supports the most marginalized. Our study makes an important contribution to the literature on ethics in the context of social entrepreneurship by identifying specific ethical dilemmas social entrepreneurs face in managing hybridity (balancing social-commercial objectives) and enhancing social impact (managing social-social objectives). Moreover, through the concept of inclusion work, our research not only integrates insights from ethics and institutional theories but also responds to the recent call to address grand societal challenges through institutional work.

POTENSI DESA DAN STRATEGI PENERAPAN EKONOMI ISLAM DALAM PENGELOLAAN BISNIS BUMDES

This research departs from the not yet optimal role of the BUMDes institution as a village business driver that carries a social mission and commercial mission in the three villages that are the objects of this research, namely Rompo Village, Karumbu Village and Rupe Village. From this, the two main problems to be answered are what is the potential that can be managed for the development of BUMDes business units and how is the strategy for implementing Islamic economics (sharia) in managing BUMDes business. To answer these problems, the researcher uses two analyzes as a theoretical framework, village potential analysis, and SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). The results of the research analysis are the potential business sectors that deserve to be developed are businesses in the real sector (agriculture, livestock and fisheries), trade, tourism, and agro-industry sectors. While the results of the SWOT analysis recommend (a) S-O Strategy; The BUMDes Business management approach uses Islamic principles with a business unit management strategy based on the real sector and business units of Islamic microfinance institutions. (b) W-O Strategy, HR development strategy and entrepreneurship (c) S-T Strategy, Islamic economic implementation strategy. (d) W-T Strategy; Build awareness and motivation to work and be alliance with Islamic concepts, Instill values ​​of concern for local village products, Increase participation of business actors and Develop several business lines

A survey on modelling, control and challenges of stratospheric airships

The stratospheric airship, which is a new concept of autonomous atmospheric flight platforms, can operate over a period of time at very high altitudes to accomplish various military or commercial missions, such as monitoring, surveillance, and scientific exploration. The worldwide interest in stratospheric airships is still growing. However, modelling and control techniques for airships have fallen far behind those for fixed-wing aircraft. To show recent advances in modelling and control for stratospheric airships, this paper provides an insightful description of the related problems and a list of references for researchers and engineers focusing on this area. The literature is categorized according to major topics in this area: dynamic modelling, control design, and ascent/descent flight control. Moreover, an application of the path-following control with real-time flight test results is presented for an autonomous prototype airship. Finally, some challenging issues are addressed for future research.

Compact Substrate Integrated Waveguide Quasi-Endfire Antenna for CubeSat Integration

A planar quasi-endfire surface-wave antenna (SWA) using substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology for integration with CubeSats and other small satellites is proposed in this letter. This antenna can be attached to the body of the satellite, resulting in a compact and low-cost design. A quasi-endfire beam pattern is achieved by the radiation of the fundamental TM <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_0$</tex-math></inline-formula> surface wave mode at the edge of a grounded dielectric slab (GDS). This mode is excited by a leaky SIW T-junction creating a uniform wavefront that propagates through a truncated parallel-plate waveguide (PPW). A matching section based on an array of subwavelength patches is also added at the interface between the PPW and the GDS for reduced reflections and improved antenna radiation performance. The measured prototype demonstrated realized gain values of 13.3 dBi at 18.6 GHz for a competitive structure size of 5 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _0$</tex-math></inline-formula> × 4.8 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _0$</tex-math></inline-formula> and with a simulated total radiation efficiency of 93.4%, providing high data rate capabilities for downlink communications. This antenna could be suitable for CubeSat or other small satellite commercial missions, for example, Earth and planetary observations or intersatellite links.

When Do Donors and Investors Unite? Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and the Financing of Hybrid Ventures

A central tenet of hybrid ventures is that their dual focus on social and commercial missions can enable them to attract funding from philanthropic and equity financing sources simultaneously. Yet, many hybrid ventures face conflicting institutional demands that can make it difficult to do so. Leveraging recent theorizing on entrepreneurial ecosystems, this study investigates conditions when alternate sources of entrepreneurial finance for hybrid ventures may complement each other. We propose that spatial (e.g., accelerators) and digital (e.g., social media) affordances act as signaling platforms in modern entrepreneurial ecosystems that moderate resource mobilization in hybrid ventures such that they can enhance the complementarity between philanthropic and equity financing of hybrid ventures. Furthermore, we suggest that the higher order, cultural affordances (relational norms) will govern the signaling strength of these lower-order entrepreneurial ecosystem affordances. Empirical results from a simultaneous equation model of a global sample of 6576 social ventures from 38 countries support the proposed framework. By applying a novel empirical approach on a multi-level entrepreneurial ecosystems’ framework, we direct attention to how hybrid ventures leverage signals between financing sources to increase funding outcomes.

External Calibration Results of the SAOCOM-1A Commissioning Phase

SAOCOM is a scientific and commercial mission developed by CONAE, the National Space Commission of Argentina. It is composed of two identical satellites, each one carrying a fully polarimetric L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The main driver of the mission is the retrieval of soil moisture, an application that demands high radiometric and polarimetric accuracy. In this article, we summarize the main external calibration results obtained during the commissioning phase of the SAOCOM-1A satellite. In addition, the general calibration strategy as well as the devices and facilities that were involved in the external calibration process are described.

ADEO: the European commercial passive de-orbit subsystem family enabling space debris mitigation

The ADEO subsystem is a scalable drag augmentation device that uses the residual Earth atmosphere present in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to passively de-orbit of satellites between 1 and 2000 kg. For the de-orbit maneuvre, a large surface is deployed which multiplies the drag effective surface of the satellite significantly. Thereby the drag force is increased as well causing accelerated decay in orbit altitude. Advantageous about a drag augmentation device is that it does not require any active steering and can be designed for passive attitude stabilization thereby making it applicable for non-operational, tumbling spacecrafts as well. The ADEO subsystem consists of four deployable booms that span four sail segments in a planar shaped configuration. While the sails are made of an aluminum-coated polyimide foil, its coating thickness was chosen such that it provides sufficient protection from the LEO space environment. The current activity commenced in August 2018 is going to provide a fully qualified Protoflight Model (PFM) for a follow-up “In Orbit Demonstration” (IOD) in 2021/2022 (ADEO is selected as payload on the European Commission IOD/IOV satellite programme). In May 2020, the team passed the Manufacturing Readiness Review (MRR). An extensive Breadboarding- and Engineering Model campaign including life tests had already been carried out in 2019. The first ADEO-L PFM consists of a 5 m x 5 m dragsail deployed under control of own onboard electronics. Optionally, ADEO-L systems can be equipped with a so-called “watchdog routine” inside the electronics which is able to recognize the point in time when the satellite has come to the end of its life circle. With the help of an on-board battery the sail will be deployed automatically after a certain time in orbit. Operating like this, ADEO-L can be truly called “100% passive”, a “CleanGreen Space Mission”. First commercial candidate missions to be targeted after the successful EC-IOD mission were already identified by Airbus DS (DE) and QinetiQ (BE).

Target evaluation for near earth asteroid long-term mining missions

There are currently over 20,000 known Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and more are being discovered on a daily basis. Near earth asteroids are the small bodies whose orbits bring them to within 1.3 AU of the Sun, which makes each one a useful opportunity for science and commercial missions. Here we design and generate a trajectory database for mining mission planning by using a high-performance computing system. The database contains 6373 accessible NEA missions with maximum mission durations of 6 years in the 2030–2065 timeframe. The accessible asteroids’ statistical results show that about 55% of accessible NEAs can provide stay-time of over 4 years in a 6-year mission. A general mining mission architecture is then proposed, and missions are constructed by using the architecture and the database. The taxonomy results for accessible asteroids from major taxonomy systems are summarized, and the available resources on these asteroids are analysed based on the taxonomy information. For the first time, the entire NEA population is assessed realistically from the perspective of asteroid mining and retrievable mass from each asteroid is quantified. Suitable targets for mining water, PGMs and other resources (e.g. silicates) in the 2030–2065 timeframe are identified. For the asteroids without taxonomy information, we did two analyses: assuming i) they are all C-type and ii) all non-C-type. Based on these assumptions, most suitable targets for water and non-water resource mining are identified. These results can be used as guidance for future asteroid mission target selection.

Business Model Innovation and Its Implications for Indonesian Batik’s Start-up Development

Business Model Innovation is the key to develop and improve the company's strategy to survive and sustain. Nevertheless, the existing Batik communities often find it difficult to innovate their business model. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nine components of the business model canvas, in Batik communities, Giriloyo and Kricak Kidul village, Yogyakarta. Second, develop an innovation on business model, Ruby Batik start-up. The evaluation research method used was descriptive qualitative case study approach. The data were collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The analytical model used the CIPP (Context, Input, Process, Product). The results showed that nine components of the business model canvas of the batik communities, Giriloyo and Kricak Kidul, Yogyakarta were still less and need improvement and innovation. Innovation of the business model canvas component became the development basis of social entrepreneurship business model, Rubi Batik start-up. The startup business model development, Rubi Batik, was directed to the commercial mission and social impact mission.

NewSpace and its implications for space debris models

Until two decades ago, the dominance of the space industry by national governments shaped the key characteristics of the spacecraft population and hence the space debris models used to anticipate future orbital populations. The rise of `NewSpace’ with the growth of private sector involvement has brought innovations, disrupting the status quo and changing to the physical characteristics and mission orbits of commercial spacecraft. Analysis of shifts in mass and launch traffic for spacecraft launched between 1980 and 2019 (source: ESA's DISCOS database) suggests significant impacts for debris modelling. Results emphasised the ongoing change towards a more commercially focused space sector. 742 spacecraft were launched in the 1980s, of which 34 were labelled as commercial. By contrast, there were 1292 commercial missions out of 2325 launched in the 2010s - an increase from 4.6% to 55.6%. These increases correlate with a rise in the number of different organisations operating spacecraft and a clear trend can be seen towards smaller, lower mass spacecraft. This is likely to alter the distributions of fragments generated in collisions compared with the distributions obtained from empirical methods, such as the NASA Standard Breakup model, derived from the fragmentation of larger spacecraft in the 600-1,000 kg range. A study of observed breakup events indicates that the NASA Standard Breakup Model over-estimates the number of large debris released during fragmentations due to collisions or explosion of satellites while also under-estimating the number of small debris. It is believed that this will have a significant impact on the outcomes of simulations of the future debris environment where these fragmentation modes are expected to dominate the generation of new debris over the propulsion based explosions which have been historically prevalent.

Conceptual Design, Flying, and Handling Qualities Assessment of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Aircraft by Using an Engineering Flight Simulator

The Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration is considered to have the potential of providing significant advantages when compared to conventional aircraft designs. At the same time, numerous studies have reported that technical challenges exist in many areas of its design, including stability and control. This study aims to create a novel BWB design to test its flying and handling qualities using an engineering flight simulator and as such, to identify potential design solutions which will enhance its controllability and manoeuvrability characteristics. This aircraft is aimed toward the commercial sector with a range of 3000 nautical miles, carrying 200 passengers. The BWB design was flight tested at an engineering flight simulator to first determine its static stability through a standard commercial mission profile, and then to determine its dynamic stability characteristics through standard dynamic modes. Its flying qualities suggested its stability with a static margin of 8.652% of the mean aerodynamic chord (MAC) and consistent response from the pilot input. In addition, the aircraft achieved a maximum lift-to-drag ratio of 28.1; a maximum range of 4,581 nautical miles; zero-lift drag of 0.005; while meeting all the requirements of the dynamic modes.

Electric Power Systems in More and All Electric Aircraft: A Review

Narrow body and wide body aircraft are responsible for more than 75% of aviation greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and aviation, itself, was responsible for about 2.5% of all GHG emissions in the United States in 2018. This situation becomes worse when considering a 4-5% annual growth in air travel. Electrified aircraft is clearly a promising solution to combat the GHG challenge; thus, the trend is to eliminate all but electrical forms of energy in aircraft power distribution systems. However, electrification adds tremendously to the complexity of aircraft electric power systems (EPS), which is dramatically changing in our journey from conventional aircraft to more electric aircraft (MEA) and all electric aircraft (AEA). In this article, we provide an in-depth discussion on MEA/AEA EPS: electric propulsion, distributed propulsion systems (DPS), EPS voltage levels, power supplies, and EPS architectures are discussed. Publications on power flow (PF) analysis and management of EPS are reviewed, and an initial schematic of a potential aircraft EPS with electric propulsion is proposed. In this regard, we also briefly review the components required for MEA/AEA EPS, including power electronics (PE) converters, electric machines, electrochemical energy units, circuit breakers (CBs), and wiring harness. A comprehensive review of each of the components mentioned above or other topics except for those related to steady state power flow in MEA/AEA EPS is out of this article's scope and should be found somewhere else. At the close of the paper, some challenges in the path towards AEA are presented. Unless the discussed challenges are satisfactorily addressed and solved, arriving at an AEA that can properly operate over commercial missions will not be possible.

Playing to the crowd: The audience’s role in team-operated media

Sports leagues and teams have entered the media industry, producing news content about themselves for broad consumption. The content producers behind these stories still largely position themselves as journalists, despite their lack of independence. They do so by engaging in boundary work, a process in which professional authority is won by enlisting other stakeholders in recognizing an occupational group’s jurisdiction over a societal task. While much of the debate over in-house reporting focuses on acceptance within the journalistic community, readers are also an important and underexplored stakeholder. This textual analysis of reader response to in-house coverage of athlete protest suggests that fans may respond to this content in ways that contest the commercial mission of a team website. As such, readers may be drawing their own boundaries in a media system with in-house content producers, and scholars should explore these questions.

The Ambivalent Image of Social Enterprises – Human Values as a Source of Explanation

One characterizing feature of social entrepreneurship is the existence of two opposing missions – a social and a commercial mission. While the requirement to integrate these missions has produced m...