Technical Sessions

Session VI: Market in Retrospect

Chair: Jeffry Welsh, Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

4:15 p.m.O/OREOS Nanosatellites: A Multi-Payload Technology Demonstration

Giovanni Minelli, Antonio Ricco, Christopher Beasley, John Hines, Elwood Agasid, Bruce Yost, David Squires, Charlie Friedericks, Matthew Piccini, Greg Defouw, Mike McIntyre, Robert Ricks, Macarena Parra, Millan Diaz-Aguado, Linda Timucin, Mike Henschke, Matthew Lera, Ming Tan, Mike Cohen, Karolyn Ronzano, Ed Luzzi, Nghia Mai, Aaron Schooley, Dianna Ly, Eric Stackpole, Jeffrey Lin, John Tucker, Pascale Ehrenfreund, Rocco Mancinelli, Andrew Mattioda, Wayne Nicholson, Richard Quinn, Orlando Santos, Nathan Bramall, Kathryn Bryson, Julie Chittenden, Cindy Taylor, Amanda Cook, David Landis – NASA Ames Research Center; Christopher Kitts, Mike Rasay, Ignacio Mas, Michael Neumann, Anne Mahacek, Anthony Young, Laura Bica – Robotic Systems Laboratory/Santa Clara University

ABSTRACT: The Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) nanosatellite follows in the footsteps of the successful GeneSat-1 and PharmaSat missions to validate key technologies developed to conduct compelling science experiments in space for a small price tag. Developed by the Small Spacecraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center, the 5.5-kg 3U satellite contains two completely independent payloads and a novel drag-enhancing device which shortens the spacecraft’s orbital lifetime, thereby mitigating orbital debris. This paper provides an overview of the mission as well as an in-depth discussion of each payload and the de-orbit mechanism (DOM) while highlighting lessons learned from the spacecraft’s development.

4:30 p.m.The NEMO Bus: A Third Generation High-Performance Nanosatellite for Earth Monitoring and Observation

F. M. Pranajaya, R. E. Zee – Space Flight Laboratory/University of Toronto

ABSTRACT: The NEMO (Nanosatellite for Earth Monitoring and Observation) bus is the next evolution to the Generic Nanosatellite Bus (GNB) technology and provides a foundation for future high-performance nanosatellites from the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). The bus has a primary structure measuring 20 cm by 20 cm by 40 cm. It is capable of peak power generation up to 80W. A minimum of 30W is available to the payload, which enables the bus to support a dedicated state-of-the-art high speed transmitter. The bus is designed with a total mass of 15 kg, 9 kg of which is dedicated to the payload. It can be configured for full three-axis control with up to 1 arcmin pointing stability. The first spacecraft to use this new bus technology is the NEMO-AM (Aerosol Monitoring) spacecraft, which is designed to perform multi-spectral observations in the visual band. The satellite will detect aerosol content in the atmosphere with a nominal equivalent ground resolution of 200 m. NEMO-AM is being built under a collaborative agreement between SFL and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). This paper summarizes the innovative aspects of the NEMO bus and the NEMO-AM mission.

4:45 p.m.LCROSS Lunar Impactor – Lessons Learned From a Small Satellite Mission

Daniel Andrews – NASA Ames Research Center

ABSTRACT: The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009. While the science function of the LCROSS mission was to determine the presence of water-ice in a permanently-shadowed crater on the moon, the operational purpose was to be a pioneer for future lowcost, risk-tolerant small satellite NASA missions. Recent strategic changes at the Agency level have only furthered the importance of small satellite missions.

NASA Ames Research Center and its industry partner, Northrop-Grumman, initiated this spacecraft project two-years after its co-manifest mission had started, with less than one-fifth the budget. With a $79M total cost cap (including operations and reserves) and 31-months until launch, LCROSS needed a game-changing approach to be successful.

At the LCROSS Confirmation Review, the ESMD Associate Administrator asked the Project team to keep a close record of lessons learned through the course of the mission and share their findings with the Agency at the end of the mission. This paper summarizes the Project, the mission, its risk position, and some of the more notable lessons learned.

5:00 p.m.Tactical Satellite 3 Mission Overview and Initial Lessons Learned

Stanley Straight, Christina Doolittle, Thomas Cooley, James Gardner, Peter Armstrong, Richard Nadile – Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate; Thomas Davis – Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office

ABSTRACT: Tactical Satellite-3 (TacSat-3) was successfully launched on 19 May 09, and has provided key insights into hyperspectral imaging capabilities hosted on a small satellite platform. TacSat-3 has given insights into new concepts of operations in the tactical employment of satellites and the balance between on-board processing, automation and performing these functions on the ground. System design decisions made early in the program are traced to on-orbit impacts and contain significant lessons learned for future space missions. In conjunction with the mission partners such as the Operationally Responsive Space Office TacSat-3 has shown lessons in key areas of improving responsive space goals. Specific key areas are the relatively rapid checkout of the spacecraft and lessons from the responsive space development.

5:15 p.m. The Results of Small Satellite Technology Transfer from JAXA

Hiroaki Kawara, Naomi Murakami, Yuuta Horikawa, Koji Nakaya, Keiichi Hirako, Hidekazu Hashimoto – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Space Technology Demonstration Research Center

ABSTRACT: The satellite named MAIDO-1 finished its 9-month life, on October 15, 2009. The MAIDO-1 was developed by Space Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association (SOHLA). Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) transferred their space technology to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local universities in the Kansai area. The purpose of this activity is to contribute to socio-economic development by returning JAXA research and development results to society. The MAIDO-1 is one of its program achievements. This paper shall explain the matter of the technology transfer, the SOHLA-1 satellite system, on-orbit experimental results, and the results of technology transfers.

5:30 p.m. Solar Array Arcing Mitigation for Polar Low-Earth Orbit Spacecraft

Grant Bonin, Nathan Orr, Robert Zee – Space Flight Laboratory/University of Toronto; Jeff Cain – COM DEV Ltd

ABSTRACT: Electrostatic discharge for polar low-Earth-orbit (LEO) spacecraft is a relatively new and unexplored issue. Dis-charge mechanisms for LEO spacecraft are significantly different from those encountered in high Earth orbits, and seemingly few designers of new, high-voltage small satellites are aware of the differences between the two environments. Polar-LEO spacecraft encounter both plasma-induced arcing risks (at equatorial latitudes) as well as differential surface charging risks (over auroral zones): two different issues that require very different design techniques to address. There do not appear to be any comprehensive guidelines in the open literature that polar-LEO spacecraft designers can use to avoid the potentially catastrophic risk of arcing in high-voltage satellites.

The issue of spacecraft charging and electrostatic discharge (ESD) in the low-Earth orbit environment is discussed, in the context of satellite power system design. Options for controlling spacecraft charging and for preventing trigger and sustained arcs between high-voltage conductors are presented. These guidelines have been used to size solar panels for the upcoming Canadian Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSat)—a highly capable mission with relatively high power demand—which is used as a design example. It is concluded that ESD issues for polar LEO spacecraft are both challenging and subtle, and demand careful attention from engineers early in the de-sign process.