ESA : How to dock CubeSats .- Cómo acoplar CubeSat

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/How_to_dock_CubeSats

How to dock CubeSats

Docking CubeSats

17 August 2016

 

The miniature satellites known as CubeSats already play a variety of roles in space. In future they could also serve as the building blocks of other, larger missions by being docked together in orbit.

CubeSats are nanosatellites of standardised dimensions based on multiple 10-cm-sided cubes, which ESA is employing for both educational and technology-demonstration purposes.

“The ability to autonomously rendezvous and dock CubeSats could enable in-orbit assembly of larger structures that simply would not be possible in any other way,” explains Roger Walker, overseeing ESA’s technology CubeSats.

”Think for instance of constructing a very large telescope mirror or radio antenna for astronomy out of separate CubeSat segments, getting around size limitations set by our rocket fairings.”

 

Lining up for CubeSat docking

 

So as a first step, ESA is part-funding PhD research into autonomous CubeSat docking techniques.

“We’re looking at the level of guidance, navigation and control performance that would be achievable with the miniaturised sensors and propulsion available to such small satellites, and what kind of docking accuracy might be possible,” said Finn Ankersen, an ESA expert in rendezvous and docking and co-supervisor of the research.

Researcher Camille Pirat of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland is having his PhD work supported through ESA’s Networking and Partnering Initiative, intended to harness advanced academic research for space applications.

 

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CubeSat rendezvous and docking

 

 

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“My interest in the topic came out of a previous R&D project with ESA, designing a CubeSat mission to test out active space debris removal technologies, such as those that will be needed for ESA’s proposed e.Deorbit mission, to capture and deorbit an entire large derelict satellite from orbit.

“The idea would be to demonstrate the pre-capture approach and synchronising of attitude between the chaser spacecraft and the tumbling target at the CubeSat scale, to prepare for a full-scale mission. It was that work that gave rise to this very interesting question: how can we perform rendezvous and docking between CubeSats?

“The challenge is that CubeSats obviously have tight mass, propellant and power constraints. We will need a positioning accuracy of something like 1 cm, previously achieved by ESA’s ATV supply spacecraft when docking with the International Space Station, but obviously the ATV was orders of magnitude bigger. 

 

ATV docking with ISS

“A CubeSat docking would be more like placing a needle into a 1-cm-diameter hole, employing a limited number of sensors and of course a strictly limited amount of propellant. A high level of onboard autonomy would also be desirable.”

The two nanosatellites would begin by using GPS navigation for the control system to bring them into closer range, with inter-satellite links established at about 20 km from each other.

“Closer in, we’d be relying on camera-based navigation, with LED beacons fitted to the CubeSats to help measure the relative range and attitude between chaser and target. What I’m currently looking at is how changes in lighting conditions might impact this solution – if sunglare would be a problem, for example.”

 

ESA CubeSats in flight

Cold-gas thrusters are currently being baselined, although electric propulsion would offer a way of squeezing extra efficiency out of scarce onboard fuel for longer-range rendezvous operations – with knock-on effects for the size and capacity of solar arrays.
“I’m doing the work in Switzerland, but with regular visits to ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands,” adds Camille Pirat. “This gives me the chance to confer with Roger and also veterans of ESA’s ATV spacecraft such as Finn – it was such a great programme, it’s very useful to be able to learn from their experience.”

Gates of ESTEC

(1.97 MB)

Details

• Title Gates of ESTEC
• Released 17/08/2016 1:31 pm
• Copyright ESA–G. Porter
• Description
  The front gates of ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands, set to be thrown open to the European public on Sunday 2 October.
  In place for more than half a century, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk on the North Sea coast is ESA’s largest establishment, focused on developing technology, planning missions and testing satellites.
  A full-scale model of the ERS-1 Earth-observing satellite, launched in 1991, is placed to the right.
  October’s annual ESTEC Open Day will be your chance to explore the sprawling facility, meet astronauts, scientists and mission designers and see special exhibits and actual space hardware.
  This annual event takes place as part of the Netherlands’ national Weekend of Science, as well as World Space Week.
  All visitors must book to gain entry on the Open Day. To register, click here.
• Id 364121

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/08/Gates_of_ESTEC
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Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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NASA : NASA Space Launch System’s First Flight to Send Small Sci-Tech Satellites Into Space .- NASA sistema de lanzamiento espacial Primer vuelo envíen el pequeño satélite Sci-Tech al espacio

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., La linterna lunar, volar como carga útil secundaria en el primer vuelo del sistema de lanzamiento espacial de la NASA, examinará la superficie de la luna para los depósitos de hielo e identificar los lugares donde se puede extraer recursos.

More information....

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-space-launch-system-s-first-flight-to-send-small-sci-tech-satellites-into-space

The Lunar Flashlight, flying as secondary payload on the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System, will examine the moon’s surface for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted.

Credits: NASA

 

The first flight of NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will carry 13 CubeSats to test innovative ideas along with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2018.

These small satellite secondary payloads will carry science and technology investigations to help pave the way for future human exploration in deep space, including the journey to Mars. SLS’ first flight, referred to as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), provides the rare opportunity for these small experiments to reach deep space destinations, as most launch opportunities for CubeSats are limited to low-Earth orbit.

“The 13 CubeSats that will fly to deep space as secondary payloads aboard SLS on EM-1 showcase the intersection of science and technology, and advance our journey to Mars,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. 

The secondary payloads were selected through a series of announcements of flight opportunities, a NASA challenge and negotiations with NASA’s international partners.

“The SLS is providing an incredible opportunity to conduct science missions and test key technologies beyond low-Earth orbit," said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This rocket has the unprecedented power to send Orion to deep space plus room to carry 13 small satellites – payloads that will advance our knowledge about deep space with minimal cost.”

NASA selected two payloads through the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement:

• Skyfire - Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Denver, Colorado, will develop a CubeSat to perform a lunar flyby of the moon, taking sensor data during the flyby to enhance our knowledge of the lunar surface
• Lunar IceCube - Morehead State University, Kentucky, will build a CubeSat to search for water ice and other resources at a low orbit of only 62 miles above the surface of the moon

Three payloads were selected by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate:

• Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout will perform reconnaissance of an asteroid, take pictures and observe its position in space
• BioSentinel will use yeast to detect, measure and compare the impact of deep space radiation on living organisms over long durations in deep space
• Lunar Flashlight will look for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted from the lunar surface

Two payloads were selected by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate:

• CuSP – a “space weather station” to measure particles and magnetic fields in space, testing practicality for a network of stations to monitor space weather
• LunaH-Map will map hydrogen within craters and other permanently shadowed regions throughout the moon’s south pole

Three additional payloads will be determined through NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge – sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and designed to foster innovations in small spacecraft propulsion and communications techniques. CubeSat builders will vie for a launch opportunity on SLS’ first flight through a competition that has four rounds, referred to as ground tournaments, leading to the selection in 2017 of the payloads to fly on the mission.

NASA has also reserved three slots for payloads from international partners. Discussions to fly those three payloads are ongoing, and they will be announced at a later time.

On this first flight, SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the moon to demonstrate the integrated system performance of Orion and the SLS rocket prior to the first crewed flight. The first configuration of SLS that will fly on EM-1 is referred to as Block I and will have a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability and be powered by twin boosters and four RS-25 engines. The CubeSats will be deployed following Orion separation from the upper stage and once Orion is a safe distance away. Each payload will be ejected with a spring mechanism from dispensers on the Orion stage adapter. Following deployment, the transmitters on the CubeSats will turn on, and ground stations will listen for their beacons to determine the functionality of these small satellites.

For more information about the science missions and technology demonstrations to fly on EM-1, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/launching-science-and-technology.html 

For more information about NASA’s Journey to Mars, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/journeytomars

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

Kim Newton / Shannon Ridinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0371 / 256-544-3774
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov / shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Feb. 3, 2016

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  Ames Research Center, CubeSats, ESD (Exploration Systems Development), Journey to Mars, Orion Spacecraft, Space Launch System, Technology,

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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NASA : NASA Television to Air CubeSat Launch Events .- NASA Televisión en el Aire, cubrirá el lanzamientos de los eventos del CubeSat

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido información de  la Agencia Espacial NASA, en que su programa NASA TV, cubrirá los eventos del lanzamiento del CubeSat; en el United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

More information............

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-television-to-air-cubesat-launch-events

Nodes CubeSats undergo final inspection at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Credits: NASA/Dominic Hart

 

Thirteen NASA and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)-sponsored CubeSats are scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 8:49 a.m. EDT (5:49 a.m. PDT) Thursday, Oct. 8, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Prelaunch media briefings and launch commentary coverage will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 8:29 a.m. EDT Thursday.

NASA will host two prelaunch briefings at Vandenberg on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The first briefing will highlight the growing importance of CubeSats in exploration and technology development and will begin at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT). The second briefing, at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT), will cover the five NASA-related CubeSats.

Four of the CubeSats are NASA-sponsored and nine are NRO-sponsored, one of which was developed with NASA funding. All will be flown on the NRO's Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment (GRACE), which is an auxiliary payload aboard the NROL-55 mission.

The CubeSat developed with NASA funding will evaluate the ability to point a small satellite accurately as it demonstrates data transfer by laser at rates of up to 200 Mb/s -- a factor of 100 increase over current high-end CubeSat communications systems. The NASA-sponsored CubeSats will test new small satellite control and communications systems, Earth observations, amateur radio communications and an X-Band radio science transponder.

These CubeSats also include the first to be designed, built and operated by students in Alaska and the first from Native American tribal college students.

Small satellites, including CubeSats, are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA.

Media interested in participating in the briefings by telephone or to schedule an interview must contact Joshua Buck at 202-358-1130 or jbuck@nasa.gov by 8 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Oct. 6. Questions also can be submitted via Twitter during the briefings using the hashtag #askNASA.

Media may obtain access badges by contacting Capt. Selena Rodts, Vandenberg Air Force Base Public Affairs, at 805-606-3595 or selena.rodts.1@us.af.mil and submitting the necessary information by noon PDT on Oct. 6. U.S. media must provide their full legal name, date of birth, driver's license number and state, media affiliation and telephone number. Valid legal photo identification will be required for all media upon arrival at Vandenberg.

For information about NASA TV launch coverage, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about NASA CubeSats, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/cubesats

-end-

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1130
jbuck@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Oct. 7, 2015

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  CubeSats, Technology,

NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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NASA : NASA Prepares for First Interplanetary CubeSats on Agency’s Next Mission to Mars .- NASA se prepara para la Primera Interplanetaria CubeSats en Siguiente Misión de la Agencia a Marte

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido información de la Agencia Espacial NASA, sobre la próxima misión que tiene la Agencia en su Misión a Marte, se utilizará unos módulos que ellos denominan: CubeSats.

Cuando la NASA lanza su próxima misión en el viaje a Marte - un módulo de aterrizaje fijo en 2016 - el vuelo incluirá dos CubeSats. Esta será la primera vez; CubeSats han volado en el espacio profundo. Si esta demostración sobrevuelo tiene éxito, la tecnología de la NASA proporcionará la capacidad de transmitir con rapidez información de estado sobre la nave principal después de que aterrice en Marte.

 More information....
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-prepares-for-first-interplanetary-cubesats-on-agency-s-next-mission-to-mars

NASA's two small MarCO CubeSats will be flying past Mars in 2016 just as NASA's next Mars lander, InSight, is descending through the Martian atmosphere and landing on the surface. MarCO, for Mars Cube One, will provide an experimental communications relay to inform Earth quickly about the landing.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

When NASA launches its next mission on the journey to Mars – a stationary lander in 2016 – the flight will include two CubeSats. This will be the first time CubeSats have flown in deep space.  If this flyby demonstration is successful, the technology will provide NASA the ability to quickly transmit status information about the main spacecraft after it lands on Mars.

The twin communications-relay CubeSats, being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, constitute a technology demonstration called Mars Cube One (MarCO).  CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft.

The full-scale mock-up of NASA's MarCO CubeSat held by Farah Alibay, a systems engineer for the technology demonstration, is dwarfed by the one-half-scale model of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter behind her.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

The basic CubeSat unit is a box roughly 4 inches (10 centimeters) square. Larger CubeSats are multiples of that unit. MarCO's design is a six-unit CubeSat – about the size of a briefcase -- with a stowed size of about 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) by 9.5 inches (24.3 centimeters) by 4.6 inches (11.8 centimeters).

MarCO will launch in March 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander. Insight is NASA’s first mission to understand the interior structure of the Red Planet. MarCO will fly by Mars while InSight is landing, in September 2016.

“MarCO is an experimental capability that has been added to the InSight mission, but is not needed for mission success,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “MarCO will fly independently to Mars."

During InSight’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) operations on Sept. 28, 2016, the lander will transmit information in the UHF radio band to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) flying overhead. MRO will forward EDL information to Earth using a radio frequency in the X band, but cannot simultaneously receive information over one band while transmitting on another. Confirmation of a successful landing could be received by the orbiter more than an hour before it’s relayed to Earth.

MarCO’s radio is about softball-size and provides both UHF (receive only) and X-band (receive and transmit) functions capable of immediately relaying information received over UHF.

The two CubeSats will separate from the Atlas V booster after launch and travel along their own trajectories to the Red Planet. After release from the launch vehicle, MarCO's first challenges are to deploy two radio antennas and two solar panels. The high-gain, X-band antenna is a flat panel engineered to direct radio waves the way a parabolic dish antenna does. MarCO will be navigated to Mars independently of the InSight spacecraft, with its own course adjustments on the way.

Ultimately, if the MarCO demonstration mission succeeds, it could allow for a “bring-your-own” communications relay option for use by future Mars missions in the critical few minutes between Martian atmospheric entry and touchdown.

By verifying CubeSats are a viable technology for interplanetary missions, and feasible on a short development timeline, this technology demonstration could lead to many other applications to explore and study our solar system.

JPL manages MarCO, InSight and MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Technology suppliers for MarCO include: Blue Canyon Technologies of Boulder, Colorado, for the attitude-control system; VACCO Industries of South El Monte, California, for the propulsion system; AstroDev of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for electronics; MMA Design LLC, also of Boulder, for solar arrays; and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc., a Terran Orbital Company in San Luis Obispo, California, for the CubeSat dispenser system. 

For information about MarCO, visit:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php

For information about InSight, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/insight

Learn more about NASA’s journey to Mars at:

http://www.nasa.gov/content/journey-to-mars-overview

-end-

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Last Updated: June 14, 2015

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  InSight Mars Lander, Journey to Mars, Technology

 NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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NASA : Cubesats Released From Space Station

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Cubesats Released From Space Station

ISS038-E-003872 (19 Nov. 2013) --- Three nanosatellites, known as Cubesats, are deployed from a Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD) attached to the Kibo laboratory’s robotic arm at 7:10 a.m. (EST) on Nov. 19, 2013. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 38 flight engineer, monitored the satellite deployment while operating the Japanese robotic arm from inside Kibo. The Cubesats were delivered to the International Space Station Aug. 9, aboard Japan’s fourth H-II Transfer Vehicle, Kounotori-4.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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