TECHNICAL SESSION V: FROM EARTH TO ORBIT

Transcription

1 TECHNICAL SESSION V: FROM EARTH TO ORBIT Launch systems, multi-manifest, or rideshare opportunities that are specifically designed to provide access to space for small satellites. Session Chair: Matt Steele, ATK Aerospace Systems 1:45 PM LauncherOne: Revolutionary Orbital Transport for Small Satellites A.C. Charania, Steve Isakowitz, William Pomerantz, Brian Morse, Kevin Sagis - Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic offers LauncherOne, an affordable, dedicated, and responsive ride to orbit for small satellites. No longer will small satellite users be forced to choose among the limitations of flight as a secondary payload, paying dramatically more for a dedicated launch vehicle, or waiting for timely access to space. We are leveraging our background as the world s first commercial spaceline, specifically through the development of the SpaceShipTwo suborbital passenger and cargo system and the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, to bring LauncherOne to market. LauncherOne will be capable of delivering on the order of 500 lbs (225 kg) to LEO, ideally suited to service the growing microsatellite community and specifically ESPA-class payloads. 2:00 PM Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS) Cyclops Daniel Newswander, James Smith - NASA Johnson Space Center; Craig Lamb, Perry Ballard - Department of Defense Space Test Program Access to space for satellites in the kg ( lb) class is a challenge for the small satellite community. Rideshare opportunities are limited and costly, and the small satellite must adhere to the primary payloads schedule and launch needs. Launching as an auxiliary

2 payload on an Expendable Launch Vehicle presents many technical, environmental, and logistical challenges to the small satellite community. To assist the community in mitigating these challenges, and in order to provide the community with greater access to space for kg satellites, the NASA Johnson Space Center s (JSC) International Space Station (ISS) and Engineering communities in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) is developing a dedicated kg class ISS small satellite deployment system. The system, known as Cyclops, will utilize NASA s ISS resupply vehicles to launch small sats to the ISS in a controlled pressurized environment in soft stow bags. The satellites will then be processed through the ISS pressurized environment by the astronaut crew allowing satellite system diagnostics prior to orbit insertion. Orbit insertion is achieved through use of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency s Experiment Module Robotic Airlock (JEM Airlock), and one of the ISS Robotic Arms. Cyclops initial satellite deployment demonstration of DoD STP s SpinSat and Texas A&M University (TAMU)/University of Texas at Austin (UT) s LONESTAR-2 (Low earth Orbiting Navigation Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous and docking) satellites will likely be the summer of Cyclops will be housed on-board the ISS and used throughout its lifetime. The anatomy of Cyclops, its concept of operations for satellite deployment, and its satellite interfaces and requirements will be addressed further in this paper. 2:15 PM ESPA Satellite Dispenser for ORBCOMM Generation 2 Joseph Maly, James Goodding - Moog CSA Engineering; Gene Fuji, Craig Swaner - ORBCOMM ORBCOMM s machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions offer global asset monitoring and messaging services through a powerful Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The original constellation deployment consisted of thirtyfive satellites launched in the late 1990s. ORBCOMM is launching the new ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) satellites to upgrade and expand the constellation network. The OG2 satellites being manufactured by Sierra Nevada Corporation will have more data capacity with the potential for new, more robust messaging services. The OG2 satellites are planned for two launches aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 using a modular Satellite Dispenser built on multiple ESPA rings. Preparation for launch involves environmental assessments including acoustics, shock, and quasi-static loads. SpaceX has worked with the OG2 team to ensure that the appropriate flight environments are analyzed to demonstrate the Dispenser launch capability. The ORBCOMM satellite network will be the first constellation to leverage the modularity of the ESPA multipayload adapter. Since the maiden ESPA flight in 2007, numerous mission planners have developed configurations ranging from traditional rideshares to deployment vehicles to free-flying spacecraft built around the ring. Launch of constellations is an obvious use of the ring, and other programs including COSMIC 2 are considering similar ESPA configurations for their constellation launches.

3 2:30 PM A Flexible Rideshare Adapter System to Increase Space Access for Express Class kg Small Satellite Missions Clint Apland, Aaron Rogers, Dave Persons, Robert Summers, Calvin Kee - The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Advances over the past decade in highly reliable commercial electronics, miniaturization techniques, and materials have enabled progressively smaller satellites to provide important scientific and military capability. Access to space, however, continues to be one of the greatest barriers to executing low-cost missions. Capitalizing on significant, otherwise unused launch vehicle (LV) volume and lift mass capability, many developers now seek accommodation as either a secondary payload with some measure of mission/orbit influence (and corresponding cost contribution), or more typically as truly opportunistic piggyback/tertiary rideshares. Among the recent leaders in this endeavor are CubeSats, the system class canonically defined as single unit (1U) spacecraft, with typical configurations being developed by many organizations today aggregating three or even six U to afford greater mass/volume provision for components. Another popular small satellite class being launched in secondary manifest configurations is the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA). Through launches of these rideshare payloads, confidence has been established that they could be safely and readily incorporated into the LV and mission plan without impact to the primary payload. Catalyzed by these successes in dramatically lowering the cost and programmatic barriers to space access, there is growing global interest to find further ways to increase small satellite launch accommodation to quantities well in excess of 10 free-flyer deployments to further leverage unused capacity, support multiple mission partners, and enable the population of constellations. In reflection of this challenge, in early 2011 JHU/APL initiated an internal assessment and investigation of prevailing market solutions for manifesting small satellites as either primary, secondary, or tertiary payloads on a broad variety of current and near-term launch vehicle solutions. Through a combination of top-down analysis and bottoms-up design activities, it was determined that there was a fundamentally un-served niche between 3-6U CubeSats and ESPA-class small satellites, the Express mission class, that corresponds to a space vehicle of approximately kg and a stowed size of 88,000 cm3. To address these requirements, JHU/APL has developed and built a unique flexible adapter system that can readily integrate with multiple LVs in numerous configurations. While accessing the same low-cost rideshare paradigm as CubeSats, the Express mission class affords far greater utilization of COTS components for reduced program development cost/risk, makes possible the capability for dramatically more system resources (e.g., power generation), and if required, enables integration of propulsion solutions for true orbit flexibility without over-compromising payload SWaP allocation. In this paper we will expand upon analysis findings, associated requirements, expected space vehicle provisions, technical details of the adapter system design, prototype hardware development, and results from qualification testing.

4 2:45 PM Deployment of CubeSat Constellations Utilizing Current Launch Opportunities Jordi Puig-Suari, Guy Zohar - California Polytechnic State University; Kyle Leveque - SRI International Large sensor constellations are being proposed as a natural application of CubeSat class spacecraft. Given their low cost and numerous launch opportunities large numbers of CubeSats can be easily deployed in orbit. However, the fact that CubeSats are launched as secondary payloads limits the options for their deployment in appropriate constellation geometries. This problem is further aggravated given the current lack of propulsive options for CubeSats. This paper explores the viability of deploying constellations of cubesats with efficient geometries using current secondary launch opportunities. The only variables being considered are the deployment timing and direction for individual CubeSats in a single launch. The results indicate that simple deployment strategies can be utilized to provide appropriate CubeSat dispersion to create efficient constellation geometries. 3:00 PM A Systems Approach to Select a Deployment Scheme to Minimize Re-contact when Deploying Many Satellites during One Launch Mission Steven Buckley; Heather Buckley - University of New Mexico; Peter Wegner - Space Dynamics Laboratory The proliferation of small, standardized/canisterized satellites and their associated adapters has made the viability of launch missions carrying thirty or more small satellites feasible. Multi-satellite missions in the past generally carried no more than two or three satellites. A few, such as the inaugural Minotaur mission in 2000, carried eleven satellites. There are several missions that are pioneering an architecture where a large primary satellite drives mission requirements without utilizing all of the lift capacity of the launch vehicle. This allows the carriage of adapters containing canisterized satellites as tertiary satellites. These tertiary satellites have almost no say in mission requirements and cannot impact the primary satellite in any way. Multi-satellite missions flying ten or more tertiary satellites require a systems approach to selecting a deployment scheme. This deployment approach eliminates the possibility of re-contact with the primary space vehicle while minimizing the possibility of recontact between the various small tertiary satellites. This paper will summarize a systems approach to selecting a deployment scheme that meets these requirements. It will outline the use of unconventional maneuvers in the radial and anti-radial directions (straight up and straight down) to take advantage of the unique orbits resulting from these maneuvers. It allows for the separation of the primary space vehicle and all of the small tertiary satellites by treating the tertiary satellites as a swarm. It places all tertiary satellites in very similar orbits which can be managed as a system. Typically, satellites are placed in de-conflicting orbits by the use of impulses in the orbital velocity vector or anti-velocity vector directions. Unfortunately, the characteristics of a velocity or anti-velocity vector maneuver tend to result in too many degrees-of-freedom when launch missions involving ten or more satellites are

5 involved. A simple solution, which takes into account the limitations of the deployment devices, the launch vehicles, and the small size of the tertiary satellites, is available. The unique characteristic of a radial or anti-radial maneuver is that they essentially preserve the period of the deployment orbit. An out-of-plane maneuver changes the inclination of the orbit. By recognizing the advantages of a radial and anti-radial maneuver combined with an out-of-plane maneuver, you can set up a deployment scheme for the tertiary satellites that minimizes the possibility of re-contact. It allows all of the satellites to orbit as a system a swarm of satellites. Currently, cubesat adapters such as the NASA Ames NanoSat Launch Adapter System (NLAS) or the LoadPath CubeStack adapters allow the carriage of up to eight 3U equivalent cubesats carried in four dispensers on each side of the adapter. This configuration easily allows deployment of the cubesats as deployed pairs in directions 180 degrees opposed from each other. This allows the deployment in both radial/anti-radial and out-of-plane maneuvers simultaneously. This scheme allows the orbital stacking of all of the cubesats on one side of the adapter in a cluster as well as all of the cubesats on the other side of the adapter in another cluster. Both clusters are essentially in the same orbit and both clusters comprise the swarm of tertiary satellites. The fact that radial and anti-radial maneuvers essentially preserve the period of the orbit, and the cubesats are very small enables a reasonable chance of not re-contacting with each other despite the close proximity of all orbits. This paper will examine the limitations and advantages of this scheme for deconflicting tertiary satellites from each other as well as the primary satellite. It will outline a mission architecture which will maximize the probability that no tertiary satellite will recontact as well as allowing the cubesats to be managed as a system as they decay. ALTERNATES: ALSET - Japanese Air Launch System Concept and Test Plan Yuichi Noguchi, Takashi Arime, Seiji Matsuda - IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd.; Takayoshi Fuji - Japan Space Systems; Hideki Kanayama - CSP Japan Inc.; Dominic DePasquale - SpaceWorks Enterprises Inc. The Air Launch System Enabling Technology (ALSET) project is a Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) funded project whose purpose is to study air launch orbital payload delivery systems and related technologies. The project is a first step toward an operational commercial air launch system that will use a multistage solid rocket to deliver small payloads on the order of 100 to 200 kilograms into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). An air drop type launch approach to space transportation provides high reliability, flexibility, and responsiveness to meet the future needs of small satellite operators. ALSET culminates in a series of drop tests of an inert launch vehicle (a mass simulator) to demonstrate the technologies necessary for the operational system. This paper will show the progress of system design and drop test planning. Trade studies are presented leading to a baseline system design and concept of operations. Factors considered in the trade studies include aircraft/launch vehicle interface, extraction and deceleration methods, and operational regulations. Commercial concept of operations to respond the

6 demand to launch small satellites with responsiveness, advantages of the air launch system over existing launch system will be shown in this paper. The baseline system design uses a carriage extraction system method whereby the rocket is extracted from the aircraft on a carriage. A 15-foot pilot parachute is used to draw two 28-foot extraction parachutes and pull the carriage from the aircraft. Three G-11 cargo parachutes are then deployed for deceleration prior to release of the rocket from the carriage for launch. The baseline test site selected for the drop test is the Yuma Test Center (YTC) in Arizona, USA. The large drop zones available at the YTC are ideal for ALSET testing. Additionally, the YTC s considerable experience with similar test activities, including the NASA Ares Jumbo Drop Test Vehicle drop tests, minimizes technical risks. Experience Launching Smallsats with Soyuz & Vega from the Guiana Space Center Clayton Mowry - Arianespace, Inc; Serge Chartoire - Arianespace SA Arianespace pioneered dual and multiple launches of small satellites ( smallsats ) since its founding over three decades ago. The experience gathered through over 200 multi-payload commercial missions has provided key insights into making smallsat launches a viable business. Recently, two new launch systems were added to the Arianespace family at the Guiana Space Center ( CSG ) in South America. The legendary Soyuz and new lightweight Vega launch systems are opening up new opportunities for smallsats. Both the Soyuz and Vega carried out successful missions with smallsats including: the Pléiades mission with ASAP-S, aboard the second Soyuz flight from CSG (VS-02) in December 2011, the maiden Vega flight (VV-01) in February 2012 with LARES and a variety of smallsats and cubesats, as well as the second Vega flight with Proba V, VNREDsat-1 and ESTCube-1. Future Soyuz and Vega launches from the CSG in 2014 and beyond, will add invaluable experience for comanifesting and orbiting smallsats. Over the past 32 years Arianespace has learned important lessons regarding scheduling, contracting, technical complexity and the need for back-up planning when launching smallsats. In the future, increasing launch rates for Soyuz and Vega in the timeframe should provide critical new capacity for the smallsat sector.