Spacecraft Design Research Articles

Optimization Design of Core Ultra-Stable Structure for Space Gravitational Wave Detection Satellite Based on Response Surface Methodology

In order to meet the urgent demand for novel zero-expansion materials and ultra-stable structures in space gravitational wave detection, it is necessary to develop an ultra-stable structural spacecraft system. This paper focuses on the research of the optimization of the core ultra-stable structure design of spacecraft, proposing a cross-scale parameterized model of structural deformation response and a multi-objective optimization method. By satisfying the prerequisites of mass and fundamental frequency, this paper breaks through the limitations of current linear analysis methods, and the overall thermal deformation of nonlinear material composite structures is optimized by modifying structural parameters.

Longitudinal multi-omics analysis of host microbiome architecture and immune responses during short-term spaceflight

Maintenance of astronaut health during spaceflight will require monitoring and potentially modulating their microbiomes. However, documenting microbial shifts during spaceflight has been difficult due to mission constraints that lead to limited sampling and profiling. Here we executed a six-month longitudinal study to quantify the high-resolution human microbiome response to three days in orbit for four individuals. Using paired metagenomics and metatranscriptomics alongside single-nuclei immune cell profiling, we characterized time-dependent, multikingdom microbiome changes across 750 samples and 10 body sites before, during and after spaceflight at eight timepoints. We found that most alterations were transient across body sites; for example, viruses increased in skin sites mostly during flight. However, longer-term shifts were observed in the oral microbiome, including increased plaque-associated bacteria (for example, Fusobacteriota), which correlated with immune cell gene expression. Further, microbial genes associated with phage activity, toxin–antitoxin systems and stress response were enriched across multiple body sites. In total, this study reveals in-depth characterization of microbiome and immune response shifts experienced by astronauts during short-term spaceflight and the associated changes to the living environment, which can help guide future missions, spacecraft design and space habitat planning.

MAGPRIME: An Open‐Source Library for Benchmarking and Developing Interference Removal Algorithms for Spaceborne Magnetometers

AbstractMagnetometers are essential instruments in space physics, but their measurements are often contaminated by various external interference sources. In this work, we present a comprehensive review of existing magnetometer interference removal methods and introduce MAGPRIME (MAGnetic signal PRocessing, Interference Mitigation, and Enhancement), an open‐source Python library featuring a collection of state‐of‐the‐art interference removal algorithms. MAGPRIME streamlines the process of interference removal in magnetic field data by providing researchers with an integrated, easy‐to‐use platform. We detail the design, structure, and functionality of the library, as well as its potential to facilitate future research by enabling rapid testing and customization of interference removal methods. Using the MAGPRIME Library, we present two Monte Carlo benchmark results to compare the efficacy of interference removal algorithms in different magnetometer configurations. In Benchmark A, the Underdetermined Blind Source Separation (UBSS) and traditional gradiometry algorithms surpass the uncleaned boom‐mounted magnetometers, achieving improved correlation and reducing median error in each simulation. Benchmark B tests the efficacy of the suite of MAGPRIME algorithms in a boomless magnetometer configuration. In this configuration, the UBSS algorithm proves to significantly reduce median error, along with improvements in median correlation and signal to noise ratio. This study highlights MAGPRIME's potential in enhancing magnetic field measurement accuracy in various spacecraft designs, from traditional gradiometry setups to compact, cost‐effective alternatives like bus‐mounted CubeSat magnetometers, thus establishing it as a valuable tool for researchers and engineers in space exploration and magnetism studies.

Fungal diversity differences in the indoor dust microbiome from built environments on earth and in space

Human occupied built environments are no longer confined to Earth. In fact, there have been humans living and working in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station (ISS) since November 2000. With NASA’s Artemis missions and the age of commercial space stations set to begin, more human-occupied spacecraft than ever will be in Earth’s orbit and beyond. On Earth and in the ISS, microbes, especially fungi, can be found in dust and grow when unexpected, elevated moisture conditions occur. However, we do not yet know how indoor microbiomes in Earth-based homes and in the ISS differ due to their unique set of environmental conditions. Here we show that bacterial and fungal communities are different in dust collected from vacuum bags on Earth and the ISS, with Earth-based homes being more diverse (465 fungal OTUs and 237 bacterial ASVs) compared to the ISS (102 fungal OTUs and 102 bacterial ASVs). When dust from these locations were exposed to varying equilibrium relative humidity conditions (ERH), there were also significant fungal community composition changes as ERH and time elevated increased (Bray Curtis: R2 = 0.35, P = 0.001). These findings can inform future spacecraft design to promote healthy indoor microbiomes that support crew health, spacecraft integrity, and planetary protection.

Magnetospheric Venus Space Explorers (MVSE) mission: A proposal for understanding the dynamics of induced magnetospheres

Induced magnetospheres form around planetary bodies with atmospheres through the interaction of the solar wind with their ionosphere. Induced magnetospheres are highly dependent on the solar wind conditions and have only been studied with single spacecraft missions in the past. Without simultaneous measurements of solar wind variations and phenomena in the magnetosphere, establishing a link between both can only be done indirectly, using statistics over a large set of measurements. This gap in knowledge could be addressed by a multi-spacecraft plasma mission, optimized for studying global spatial and temporal variations in the magnetospheric system around Venus, which hosts the most prominent example of an induced magnetosphere in our solar system. The MVSE mission comprises four satellites, of which three are identical scientific spacecraft, carrying the same suite of instruments probing different regions of the induced magnetosphere and the solar wind simultaneously. The fourth spacecraft is the transfer vehicle which acts as a relay satellite for communications at Venus. In this way, changes in the solar wind conditions and extreme solar events can be observed, and their effects can be quantified as they propagate through the Venusian induced magnetosphere. Additionally, energy transfer in the Venusian induced magnetosphere can be investigated. The scientific payload includes instrumentation to measure the magnetic field, electric field, and ion–electron velocity distributions. This study presents the scientific motivation for the mission as well as requirements and the resulting mission design. Concretely, a mission timeline along with a complete spacecraft design, including mass, power, communication, propulsion and thermal budgets are given. This mission was initially conceived at the Alpbach Summer School 2022 and refined during a week-long study at ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility in Redu, Belgium.

Argon admixture-driven enhanced ionization and performance of a 5 kW Hall thruster on krypton

Utilizing alternative propellants has been recognized as a strategy to reduce the total cost of propellants in electric propulsion-based missions. The aim of this study is to quantify the Hall effect thruster (HET) performance and operating characteristics using a Kr–Ar mixture to enable mission designers to evaluate the impact on mission and spacecraft design. We present the performance and plume plasma properties of the P5 5 kW-class HET operated with a Kr–Ar mixture with Ar volumetric flow rate fractions from 0 to 100%. The thruster is characterized at discharge power levels of 2.6 kW and 4.1 kW at constant discharge current and voltage over the range of Ar fractions. Despite higher ionization energy and lower mass of Ar, the thruster exhibited a similar level of thrust within 2% when comparing the pure Kr and 26%-Ar mixture cases. The derived ion energy distribution functions and analytical modeling suggest that the characteristic length for the ionization region is extended as the Ar fraction increases. The increased residence time of Kr at the extended ionization region and background energetic electrons from the ionized Ar neutrals are considered to cause this enhanced ionization of the injected Kr neutrals. This leads to a 6% higher Kr ion density at the 26%-Ar case even at the 16% less injected Kr neutral density than in the pure Kr case. The enhanced Kr ionization and generated Ar ions in the 26%-Ar case consequently led to a comparable thrust with that of the pure Kr case. The study indicates that mixing Ar with approximately 26% volumetrically with Kr can provide a similar or even higher thrust performance at the same discharge power. This will be particularly advantageous for various space missions that require high impulses by reducing the total cost of the propellant.

Streamlining Space Travel The Nozzle-less Propulsion Approach

The Nozzle-less Propulsion Approach" delves into the innovative realm of propulsion systems that defy conventional methods. Traditional rocket engines rely on nozzles for thrust generation, but the emergence of nozzle-less propulsion represents a paradigm shift in space exploration. This abstract explores the principles and advantages of nozzle-less propulsion, highlighting its potential to revolutionize spacecraft design and mission capabilities. By eliminating the need for complex nozzle structures, this approach streamlines spacecraft architecture, reduces mass, and enhances efficiency. Moreover, the abstract delves into the underlying technologies driving nozzle-less propulsion, such as ion propulsion, electromagnetic propulsion, and solar sails. Through a comprehensive overview, this abstract illuminates the transformative impact of the nozzle-less propulsion approach on the future of space travel, offering insights into its feasibility, challenges, and promising applications. Key words: Nozzle-less propulsion, propulsion, MPDT, PIT, Theoretical Analysis, Numerical Analysis

A multi-point decentralized control for mitigating vibration of flexible space structures using reaction wheel actuators

The vibration with large amplitude and low frequency of the flexible space structures is prone to affect the attitude stability and pointing precision of the spacecraft. To mitigate the vibration of the flexible space structures, a multi-point decentralized control strategy using reaction wheel (RW) actuators is proposed and investigated in this paper. The motion equations of the solar array with multiple RW actuators are derived in modal coordinate representation. To suppress the overall response of the structure, the decentralized control strategy using RW actuators is designed based on the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The stability and the effect of closed-loop dynamic system is theoretically proved. The comparative studies under sun-pointing of the solar array and the rest-to-rest orbital maneuver conditions are presented to show the control performance of the RW actuators. The results indicate that, with 2% increase in total mass from the addition of the actuators, the vibration attenuation time can be decreased by 85.25% and 94.16% for the vibration excited by the sun-pointing and the rest-to-rest orbital maneuver, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed decentralized control method. Theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and experimental study are conducted to demonstrate the validity of the proposed vibration mitigation approach and its potential application in the spacecraft design.

A Spacecraft design for mars water survey

To probe the possibility of water sources on Mars and research the surface environment of Mars, a Martian spacecraft was designed in detail in this study. Camera PIXL was selected as the payload. The service platform includes an orbit control system, communication system, thermal control system, main computer, energy system, and structure system, which was designed to support the operation of the spacecraft to complete required space missions. The consequence of this research furnishes some guidance for the design of the Martian spacecraft, which discovers water sources on Mars.

EHFE refinement and extension for variable physical Earth radiation in spacecraft uncertainty thermal analysis

Spacecraft uncertainty thermal analysis is an important part of ensuring robust and reliable spacecraft thermal control system design. The calculation of the Earth external heat flux is an important part of it, however, the current model for calculating the Earth external heat flux is the constant physical Earth radiation model. In this paper, a model of the Earth’s variable physical radiation is developed based on the long-term averaging method. We refine and extend the application of the external heat flux expansion (EHFE) formula to accommodate our proposed model. This study further includes an uncertainty analysis of Earth radiative external heat flux, utilizing the enhanced EHFE formula in the context of a representative spacecraft. We provide statistical data, such as mean values, standard deviation, and probability density functions, derived from our analysis. The augmented EHFE formula, when properly generalized, can be applied to compute the celestial body’s variable physical radiative external heat flux affecting the spacecraft. This methodological advancement offers theoretical underpinning for the thermal design of spacecraft intended for deep space exploration.

Thermal performance of a motile-microorganism within the two-phase nanofluid flow for the distinct non-Newtonian models on static and moving surfaces

Nanofluid plays a crucial role in addressing the heat transmission challenges facing the industries including chemical processing systems, automobile radiators, spacecraft design, concrete heating, solar thermal conversion systems, etc. Consequently, this research is devoted to analyzing the solar radiation mechanism, thermophoresis and Brownian motion under unique conditions, specifically, temperature gradient within liquids with limiting viscosities or plastic dynamic viscosity at zero and infinite shear rate. To increase the model novelty, a model involving two phases of Casson–Carreau fluid conveying tiny particles is developed to analyze the flow of solar radiation mechanism over stationary and moving surfaces. Furthermore, the impacts of heat generation, chemical reaction and activation energy are also taken into account. The dimensionless equations are solved through numerical methods using the Galerkin-weighted residual technique and analytically employing the Homotopy analysis method with the assistance of MATHMATIACA 11.3 software. Our study reveals that the fluid temperature reduces for greater values of Weissenberg number, and Casson parameter. Additionally, the distribution of gyrotactic microorganisms decreased against the bio-convective Schmidt number and Peclet number.

A review on radiation environment pathways to impacts: Radiation effects, relevant empirical environment models, and future needs

Space radiation affects every aspect of spacecraft design and operation. As a part of the ISWAT (International Space Weather Actions Teams, https://iswat-cospar.org/) effort, this paper provides a comprehensive review of space radiation environment models that are commonly used by the spacecraft design community to estimate radiation effects on systems/components. The types of radiation effects discussed in this paper are total dose (both for ionizing and for non-ionizing), single event effects (SEE), surface and internal charging, and radiation effects at aviation altitudes. For each effect, a brief overview of the effect is described, relevant environment models are discussed, and the currently understood gaps and future needs are summarized. This paper serves as the radiation environment pathway-to-impact paper in the overall ISWAT Roadmap development.

Refined Short‐Term Forecasting Atmospheric Temperature Profiles in the Stratosphere Based on Operators Learning of Neural Networks

AbstractThe efficacious forecasting of single‐station atmospheric temperature profiles can provide essential support for the structural design and flight missions of spacecrafts in near space. However, empirical models and reference atmospheric models most are calculations of the average state of the atmosphere profiles. Numerical assimilation models require expensive computational costs to improve the accuracy for medium and long‐term forecasting. It has been still a challenge to refined predict short‐term temperature profiles of near space at a low‐cost. We present a temperature profile operator method for refined modeling in the stratosphere by fusing the ability of Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM) networks or its variants‐ bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM) to exploit time series correlated information and deep operator networks (DeepONets) to approximate the solution operator of temperature profiles. It consists of three subnetworks. The first subnetwork is used to approximate the discrete temperature profile function, the second net is applied to represent the spatial information of pressure heights, and the third branch is utilized to encode the time domain of the temperature profile operator. We first use the hourly low latitude temperature data (20–50 km) from ERA5 for training, verification and iterative testing in the next 48 hr. The results denote that the temperature profile operator network has a stable and low error of cumulative generalization, and the BiLSTM operator significantly outperform the other models. We also apply two scenarios to testing the refined applicability of the high latitude temperature profile operator and the mid latitude wind profile operator in the stratosphere. This work provides a novel perspective for us to study the refined single‐station modeling of the upper and middle atmosphere.

A high-order disturbance nutation/wobble control for unbalanced spinning satellites

This paper introduces a novel active nutation/wobble rejection control method for spinning satellites enduring thrusting disturbances and reaction wheel limitations. Our approach employs two tilted reaction wheels in reaction-momentum mode, actively controlling wobble/nutation while enhancing disturbance rejection for dynamically unbalanced satellites. This eliminates the need for balancing processes or additional ballast, reducing system weight. A new wheel arrangement and momentum analysis effectively dampens wobble generated by dynamic imbalances. We prove that increasing wheel angular speed about the spinning axis enhances immunity against transverse disturbances. Unlike existing controllers, our method minimizes average thrust/spin axis oscillation while eliminating undesired rates and wobble. Stability is rigorously established through linearized equations and Routh stability criteria. Validation via air-bearing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and Monte Carlo tests demonstrates close agreement between predictions and experimental data, highlighting the controller's robustness against high thrusting disturbances. This work represents a significant contribution by achieving active stabilization of unbalanced spin satellites using onboard reaction wheels, potentially paving the way for wider adoption in future spacecraft designs.

A probabilistic life prediction framework for vibration fatigue of turbine blade based on refined polynomial chaos expansion

AbstractVibration fatigue is a typical form of multiaxial fatigue. In this study, initial vibration fatigue tests were conducted on rocket turbine blades, and significant dispersion in fatigue life was found. Consistent with this finding, a novel probabilistic life prediction framework was proposed. This framework integrates sensitivity analysis and sequential sampling technology and introduces polynomial chaos expansion as a computationally efficient alternative to finite element analysis. And a continuous mechanics‐based damage evolution model was employed to examine the vibration fatigue life of turbine blades. The findings validate the effectiveness of the framework, as no significant difference was found between the experimental results and simulated predictions at the 95% confidence level. Furthermore, comparison with the Monte Carlo simulation indicated that this framework achieves comparable prediction accuracy, while significantly reducing the required samples by 2 orders of magnitude, which effectively addresses the fatigue problem of small sample data. This framework enables rapid and accurate multiaxial fatigue probabilistic life prediction, which holds important implications for the reliability design of reusable spacecraft.

Multi-Objective Optimization Design of an Origami-Inspired Combined Cushion Airbag

To improve the cushioning performance of soft-landing systems, a novel origami-inspired combined cushion airbag is proposed. The geometry size, initial pressure, and exhaust vent area of the cushion airbags are designed preliminarily using a theoretical model. The finite element models, including the returnable spacecraft and cushion airbags, are established via the control volume method (CVM) to analyze the impact dynamic behavior and cushioning performance during the landing attenuation process. The cushioning performance of the cushion airbags in complex landing environments are studied to investigate the influence of horizontal velocity, lateral velocity and nonhorizontal landing surfaces. Four design parameters of the cushion airbags, including the initial pressure, venting threshold pressure, exhaust vent area and polygon edge number, are employed to study their influence on the cushioning performance. A multi-objective optimization model of the cushion airbags based on the neural network and multi-objective water cycle algorithm is established to realize the rapid optimization design. The Pareto front of the maximum overload and specific energy absorption is obtained. The analysis results show that the maximum overload of the proposed combined cushion airbags is 7.30 g. The system with the anti-rollover design can avoid rollover and achieve outstanding cushioning performance in complex landing environments. The maximum overload of the returning spacecraft is decreased by 16.4% from 7.30 g to 6.10 g after multi-objective optimizations. This study could provide the technical support for the soft-landing system design of returnable spacecrafts.

Sustainable space technologies—Strategies toward a predictive aerothermal design of re-useable space transportation systems

This paper presents a review of current aerothermal design and analysis methodologies for spacecraft. It briefly introduces the most important system architectures, including rockets, gliders, and capsule-based configurations, and gives an overview of the specific aerothermal and thermo-chemical effects that are encountered during their different flight phases and trajectories. Numerical and experimental design tools of different fidelity levels are reviewed and discussed, with a specific focus placed on the present limitations and uncertainty sources of models for the wide range of physical phenomena that are encountered in the analyses. This includes high temperature thermodynamics, chemical effects, turbulence, radiation, and gasdynamic effects. This is followed by a summary of current predictive capabilities and research foci, with missing capabilities identified. Finally, a future strategy toward an efficient and predictive aerothermal design of re-useable space transportation systems is proposed.

FORMATION OF WORLDVIEW AND PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATIONS OF AIRCRAFT DESIGNER O. ANTONOV

The article provides a thorough comparative and historical analysis of the process of formation of worldview and professional guidelines in the activities of Oleg Antonov, a prominent master of the national aircraft construction and design industry. In particular, the author, based on numerous biographical materials, highlights certain issues of shaping the worldview of the future founder of the aviation industry in his early youth, outlines the range of interests and hobbies related to Oleg Antonov's own beliefs and the influence of his immediate environment.The author highlights the initial steps of Oleg Antonov's amateur activities towards the creation of the first aircraft, in particular, his participation in the «club of aviation amateurs» organized by him in Saratov in his youth. The first experience of the future aircraft designer's participation in the second All-Union glider rally in the Crimea and his confirmation in choosing his future profession are highlighted.The author emphasizes the importance of Oleg Antonov's fateful meetings in his youth with future prominent spacecraft and aircraft designers S. Korolev, S. Ilyushin, and test pilots S. Anokhin and K. Arceulov.The author points out that despite the failure in Koktebel due to the fact that the Golub glider did not take off due to certain design flaws, O. Antonov used this experience as a springboard to the big world of aircraft construction, taking into account all his mistakes and embarking on the path of improving and modernizing the models he had already created. This event can be classified as the starting point of the national gliding industry and Oleg Antonov's professional growth.The author emphasizes that all subsequent aircraft designs by O. Antonov's design bureau were distinguished by their high-tech component and innovative design approaches. The author emphasizes the fact that in his professional activities, O. Antonov solved all the tasks he set with due regard to the laws of aerodynamics, design, strength testing, manufacturability, etc. Such a credo of professionalism was laid down at the initial stage of O. Antonov's formation as an aircraft designer and head of a leading design bureau.

Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Passive Radiometer Imaging to Locate Electromagnetic Leakage From Spacecraft Surface

The localization of electromagnetic radiation leakage through cabin gaps is a critical and challenging aspect of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) design for spacecraft with complex electromagnetic environments. This paper proposes a localization method based on synthetic aperture interferometric passive radiometry imaging. Electromagnetic radiation signals are measured at a certain distance from the spacecraft surface to form visibility samples. A Fourier transform pair between the visibility sample and the corrected brightness temperature for electromagnetic radiation leakage is established. The spacecraft surface electromagnetic leakage location image is obtained through the inverse Fourier transform. A sparse sampling method based on ant colony optimization was proposed to improve testing efficiency. The impacts of various factors, including positional parameters, positioning accuracy of the test antenna, scanning parameters, and measurement receiver amplitude/phase errors on the imaging results are analyzed. Experiments were conducted on a 1 m × 1 m × 1 m cabin with 51 holes on one surface, and the algorithm proposed in this paper was validated to effectively image and locate electromagnetic leakage points at different frequencies. The effectiveness of sparse sampling was also verified, with a localization accuracy of 90.2% and a testing time savings of 81.9%.

A stability-enhanced approach for aerodynamic heating computation in high-speed flows

Near-space vehicles face severe aerothermal environments due to hypersonic speeds. Accurately predicting hypersonic aerodynamic heating is crucial for the design of spacecraft’s thermal protection systems, aerodynamic shapes, and propulsion systems. Numerical simulations have become an important tool for computing aerothermal environments under extreme conditions. However, there is a contradiction between the robustness and low dissipation characteristics of existing numerical methods for hypersonic flow fields. This paper proposes an effective dimension hybrid approach that enhances the robustness of AUSM-family schemes while maintaining their low dissipation characteristics. Numerical experiments demonstrate the proposed approach’s effectiveness and potential for practical engineering applications.