Digital Commons Network^™

Cubesat Proximity Operations Demonstration (Cpod) Mission Results, Isaac A. Spiegel, Bonan Zhou, Robert Goodloe, Brian Fox, Jeremiah Dimatteo

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSat rendezvous and proximity operation (RPO) technology development is critical for improving the performance and economics of space debris remediation and the inspection, servicing, and assembly of larger space systems. The CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration (CPOD) is a program led by Terran Orbital and funded by NASA to achieve autonomous on-orbit RPO with two identical 3U CubeSats, thereby maturing CubeSat RPO technology. This article presents the CPOD RPO guidance architecture and its on-orbit outcomes. The architecture advances the autonomy, fuel-efficiency, and safety of CubeSat RPO through the synthesis of optimization-based control theory and orbital dynamics analysis, with different optimization techniques …

Surrogate-Based Smallsat Architecture Design Leveraging Integrated Parametric Mission Models, Allen Wautlet, Greg Thanavaro, Ben Renkoski

Small Satellite Conference

The modern space mission landscape requires consideration of many trade variables to meet growing cost and performance constraints. In the defense sector, threats continue to proliferate, driving the need for multi-layered constellations that are robust to myriad potential conflicts. In the civil sector, stakeholders seek science data with ever increasing timeliness, coverage, and resolution to monitor the pulse of Earth's changing environment. Across the commercial arena, companies compete to deliver the best space products and services, bringing cutting edge business opportunities into the realm of possibility for the first time. Now more than ever, all three sectors demand optimal mission …

Examination Of The Application Support Layer Of Ccsds Sois Using Spacewire Communication Stack And Low-Code User Application, Mitsutaka Takada, Hiroaki Takada, Takayuki Ishida, Keiichi Matsuzaki

Small Satellite Conference

As a SmallSat grows, there is an increasing need for high-speed and high-functioning sub-networks, such as SpaceWire, to connect equipment to the OBC and store large amounts of optical image data. SpaceWire has the ability for time-sensitive delivery, fast communication, and flexible network topology construction.

JAXA/ISAS has developed SIB2, a low-code user application that designs telemetry commands based on a database stored on the satellite. SIB2 has a code generation function called SIB2Generator, which outputs code that performs the behavior of telemetry commands during sender/receiver and is used as a template for user applications. On the other hand, the Application …

The First Kuwait National Satellite Project - Kuwaitsat-1, Ali Meerza, Danah Alotaibi, Maha Alkharji, Sara Eskander, Albandary Alotaibi, Hanen Alotaibi

Small Satellite Conference

Nanosatellites present many opportunities and enable many nations and organizations to participate in the space field. The affordability of these satellites offers a short-term strategy for developing space systems capability. The first Kuwaiti satellite project known as "KuwaitSat-1" started back in 2019 and it was initiated by Kuwait University and funded by Kuwait Foundation for the advancement of Sciences (KFAS). Kuwaitsat-1 is a 2U nanosatellite with an imager payload in the visible light (RGB) and it was Launched on January 3rd, 2023, by Space-x, falcon 9, Transporter 6. The main objective of Kuwait Sat-1 project is to provide the students …

Propellant Variety And Affordability: A Strength Of Pulsed Cathodic Arc Propulsion Systems, Patrick R. C. Neumann, Steven Despotellis, Hervé Astier

Small Satellite Conference

Most spacecraft propulsion systems require specific propellants with stringent quallity requirements. Examples include high purity xenon, krypton or argon used by many Hall and ion thrusters, where propellant contamination can corrode parts of the thruster, in particular the neutraliser cathode, leading to thruster failure[1]. The same is true in most chemical thrusters, which often require not only high propellant purity, but filtration to prevent particulate intrusion [2].

Propellant purity requirements lead to availability restrictions, which impacts propellant pricing. The standard defining RP-1, the refined kerosene derivative utilised in many launch vehicles, stipulates such stringent composition requirements that only petroleum sourced …

Leveraging Virtualization For Space-Based Edge Remotes, Jennifer Barber, Chris Badgett

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Solving Long Lead Times And The High Cost Of Space Solar Panels With Upgraded Silicon Technology, S. Herasimenka, M. Reginevich, M. Rosenzweig, S. Bowden, N. Honesty, M. Eyink, A. Fedoseyev

Small Satellite Conference

Solestial is developing 100% US made solar cells and blankets with > 18% BOL efficiency, over 10 years lifespan, < 3% annual degradation rate, < 400 g/m2 specific mass, > 10 MW manufacturing capacity and $20/W price by 2025. This new solar technology will be beneficial for the projects where high cost, long lead times and low manufacturing capacity of space-grade solar cells and panels are the major barriers for implementation. Here we describe the main features of our solar cells and blankets.

A Scalable System For Producing Market-Ready Earth Observation Data From Smallsats, Thinus Prinsloo

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellites pose unique challenges when it comes to producing high-quality imagery at scale:

• Smaller budgets
• Rapid integration
• Must be automated
• Per-product quality metrics
• Heterogeneous satellites, sensors, and band combinations
• Traditional quality measurements not feasible

Production Of Deployable Helical Antennas, Hannah Frost, Aloisia Russo, Angelika Skrzynska, Thomas Norton, Amool Raina, Vincent Fraux, Juan Castillo, Joao Silva

Small Satellite Conference

Goal

To develop new manufacturing processes and capabilities for batch production of deployable helical antennas for small satellite constellations.

Accelerating New Space Innovation From Design To Operations: The Optimized Journey Of Space Access, Jason Roberson

Small Satellite Conference

To win the space race with successful satellite launches, companies must close the gap between the real and virtual worlds.

This enables them to manage a complex system of systems through effective collaboration, innovation and program execution. Here's how the optimized journey through the whole project lifecycle looks like.

Itasat-2: Conops Review And Near-Term Challenges, Lidia Hissae Shibuya Sato, Luis Eduardo Loures Da Costa, Tiago Matos, Ana Carolina Di Iorio Jeronymo, Renan Guilherme Soares Menezes, Douglas Estevam Casale, Bruno Leonardo Schuster, Denis Guilgim Vieira, Charles Swenson, Bela Fejer

Small Satellite Conference

ITASAT-2 is a Brazil-United States mission to study ionospheric phenomena that occur in low orbit and to develop and demonstrate capabilities in geolocation. Brazil will be responsible for the spacecraft development, integration and testing of the CubeSat and the US partners will provide the space weather payloads. The geolocation payload and radiation measurement instrument is intended to be provided by Brazil partners. To be able to accommodate the expected payloads and the required subsystems a 12 U CubeSat is foreseen. This works presents the ongoing work of ITASAT-2 mission covering the Concept of Operation and expected challenges identified for mission …

Development Of Water Gridded Ion Thruster For Small Satellites: Toward On-Orbit Demonstration, Pierre Ominetti, Daiki Tomita, Akira Iwakawa, Yuichi Nakagawa, Kazuya Yaginuma, Jun Asakawa

Small Satellite Conference

Water as a propellant has many advantages and does not require a pressure vessel for storage. Its high safety level can reduce development cost and time. It is also a resource tightly tied to human spaceflight and found in-situ in the upcoming moon missions.

Stored in its liquid state in our thrusters, it is then vaporized at room temperature and low pressure. The resulted steam is then injected in the discharge chambers where it is transformed into plasma. Plasma generation is achieved through flight-proven microwave discharge using Electron Cyclotron Resonance.

In Space, Security Can No Longer Be Based On Trust: Secure & Trusted Space Orchestration, John Moberly, Matthew Erickson

Small Satellite Conference

The biggest threat to US space capability is not foreign adversaries–it is a potential attack on the networks that keep us connected. Unfortunately, many satellites were designed in an era when cyber threats were not such a concern. The Pentagon's traditional method of defining program-specific requirements, redirecting budgets, and embarking on a five-year development trek is slowly catching up but SpiderOak's OrbitSecure can accelerate this by meeting urgent mission needs for new capabilities as well as retrofitting existing systems which SpiderOak recently proved on-orbit.

Improved Satellite Robustness Through Application Of Erosion Resistance And High Emissivity Coatings, Rajeswaran Radhakrishnan, Timothy D. Hall, Danny Liu, Maria Inman, Stephen Snyder, Matthew Robertson, Trace Taylor, J.R. Dennison

Small Satellite Conference

• Spacecraft can experience charging throughout operation due to high flux of incident electrons (ex. during geomagnetic substorm). As a result, different materials/components may experience a range of potentials which may lead to plasma-induced arcs, damaging spacecraft components.
• 54% of spacecraft failures are due to enhancement of radiation belt particles and magnetospheric plasma that cause charging/discharing
• Current space charge mitigation technologies:
• Metallic coatings
• System chassis ground leads to as many surfaces as possible
• Not effective in severe sub-storm conditions and do not enable local application of coating

Cmac Smallsat Atmospheric Correction With Scene Statistics: Superior Accuracy In Near Real-Time, David Groeneveld, Tim Ruggles

Small Satellite Conference

The future of remote sensing is imaging smallsats; however, assuring their data utility requires atmospheric correction (AC). Current methods are difficult to apply and often fail to provide accurate surface reflectance retrieval even for the most common levels of atmospheric aerosol loading; this impediment is increasing annually due to wildfires induced by climate change. Closed-form Method for Atmospheric Correction (CMAC), developed for smallsats using Sentinel-2 data, is applicable to all imaging satellites. CMAC uses only scene statistics for automated near real-time AC while bypassing ancillary data that delays existing methods by days. In this paper, data from two research-grade satellite …

A Novel Approach To Small Form-Factor Spacecraft Structures For Usage In Precision Optical Payloads, Tyler Ritz, Henry Chong, Patrick Kelly

Small Satellite Conference

Precision optical payloads will soon experience a boom in manufacturing scale with the onset of proliferated satellite constellation concepts. Presently, the cost of assembly for a single unit can reach upwards of $500,000. Reduction in recurring engineering and assembly complexity can reduce this figure by up to two orders of magnitude. This paper discusses one potential solution which relies on consistent structural components that are easily manufactured in bulk quantities to facilitate general uses while also enabling high-precision mounting in designated payload slots. This proposed approach combines standardized struts and panels able to be connected and stacked in a variety …

In-Orbit Demonstration Of Precise Point Positioning For Real-Time On-Board High-Accuracy Orbit Estimation Of Leo Satellites, Javier Tegedor, James Bartle, Jonathan Ward, Xianglin Liu, Scott Glazier, Pieter Van Duijn

Small Satellite Conference

Satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are typically equipped with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) receivers to obtain real-time positioning, velocity, and timing. Until now, onboard GNSS positioning accuracy in LEO has been limited. Where more accurate state vector estimates are required the raw GNSS data must be post-processed on the ground.

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is a GNSS positioning technique which allows users to obtain absolute high accuracy positioning. While PPP has been extensively used for precise Earth-based navigation, it has not been used for enhancing the positioning accuracy of satellites in LEO until now.

This paper describes how …

Brainstack – A Platform For Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Collaborative Experiments On A Nano-Satellite, Marcus Murbach, Eric Barsczc, L. Seth Schisler, Alejandro Salas, Kwabena Boateng, Gregoire Marty, Avery Brock, Malachi Mooney-Rivkin, Stanley M. Krześniak

Small Satellite Conference

Space missions have become more ambitious with exploration targets growing ever distant while simultaneously requiring larger guidance and communication budgets. These conflicting desires of distance and control drive the need for in-situ intelligent decision making to reduce communication and control limitations. While ground based research on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) software modules has grown exponentially, the capacity to experimentally validate such software modules in space in a rapid and inexpensive format has not. To this end, the Nano Orbital Workshop (NOW) group at NASA Ames Research Center is performing flight evaluation tests of ‘commercially’ available bleeding-edge computational platforms …

A Decision Framework For Allocation Of Constellation-Scale Mission Compute Functionality To Ground And Edge Computing, Jaime Ramirez, Caleb Royer, Brian Free, Owen Brown, Robert Polutchko

Small Satellite Conference

This paper explores constellation-scale architectural trades, highlights dominant factors, and presents a decision framework for migrating or sharing mission compute functionality between ground and space segments. Over recent decades, sophisticated logic has been developed for scheduling and tasking of space assets, as well as processing and exploitation of satellite data, and this software has been traditionally hosted in ground computing. Current efforts exist to migrate this software to ground cloud-based services. The option and motivation to host some of this logic “at the edge” within the space segment has arisen as space assets are proliferated, are interlinked via transport networks, …

Shielding Considerations For Cubesat Structures During Solar Maximum, D. Laurence Thomsen, Thomas M. Jordan, Larisa Milic, William Girard

Small Satellite Conference

The purpose of this lessons learned paper is to communicate the utility of shielding in small spacecraft planning for the support of mission assurance and reliability. Numerous SmallSats have been flying in polar low Earth orbit for science, communications, technology demonstrations, and imaging with academic, commercial, and government interests. Shielding has been part of mission assurance and reliability from the advent of long duration spacecraft missions. The Shields-1 CubeSat has been operating in polar low Earth orbit since 16 December 2018 with atomic number (Z)-grade radiation shielding and demonstrates shielding effectiveness. Shields-1 has collected a representative example of solar minimum …

Beacon Signalling For Expedited Cell Search Procedures In Ntn Nb-Iot, René B. Sørensen, Henrik Krogh Møller, Bertel Brander, Anders B. Kristensen, David V. B. Johansen, Markus S. Ellyton, Nicolai Lyholm, Sander Gaarden, Stephan O. K. Larsen

Small Satellite Conference

Three cellular standards have been considered for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN): NB-IoT, eMTC and NR, each having had features introduced to accommodate the challenges of the NTN case. In Terrestrial Networks (TNs), it is reasonable to expect continuous coverage when a UE is stationary within reach of a base-station (eNB) with rare exceptions of downtime due to failures or catastrophic events. The same continuity cannot be assumed in NTN for sparse eNB constellations or during the rollout of dense eNB constellations. Therefore, a feature of the NTN IoT protocols - NTN NB-IoT & NTN eMTC - is the support of discontinuous …

Space Networking Implementation For Lunar Operations, Nathan Drzadinski, Stephanie Booth, Blake Lafuente, Daniel Raible

Small Satellite Conference

The High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) project at NASA has developed a performance optimized and open-source Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) implementation. The primary goal is to create a scalable networking solution to increase the scientific data return rate of space missions. To reach this goal, HDTN must span multiple edge cases in space networking by including tools and configurations to accommodate a wide range of space systems. Typically, HDTN evaluations are conducted on a laboratory emulation test bed, made up of hardware accelerated x86 based systems capable of data rates over 10 Gbps. HDTN must have an effective implementation process …

Ka-Band Multi-Gbps High Speed Downlink With Electrically Steerable Beam, Jumpei Sudo, Makoto Higaki, Soichiro Inoue, Shinya Nitta, Nahoka Kawaguchi, Takashi Eishima, Dongwon You, Kneichi Okada, Atsuchi Shirane, Takashi Tomura

Small Satellite Conference

With advances in sensor technology and data services, the latest earth observation missions tend to require substantial amounts of remote sensing data to be downlinked to earth stations with shorter delivery times. To meet these demands, AXELSPACE is developing a Ka-band downlink system (AxelLink-Ka) in cooperation with Tokyo Institute of Technology ¹ that combines a broadband Ka-band transmitter and an active phased array antenna.² The prototype of the AxelLink-Ka was found to achieve a data rate of up to 4.2 Gbps with using dual polarizaion of Right- and Left-Handed Circular Polarization (RHCP/LHCP) in the Ka-band (25.5—27.0 GHz) and electrical …

Compact Laser Communication Terminal Architecture And In-Orbit Demonstration, P. Johan Du Plooy, Steven Engelen, Jacob J. Hejderup, Tushar Goyal

Small Satellite Conference

Satellites are generating more data than ever due to more demanding payloads, although communications Down To Earth (DTE) have not experienced the same growth in data rates. Compact Laser Communication Terminals are a promising technology that will increase bandwidths (10 Gbit+) and pave the way for larger data volumes to be transmitted which will increase the relevance of small and CubeSats in space data as service offerings. The in-orbit demonstrator is targeting a downlink data rate of 1 Gbit/s with a range of up to 1000km. A downlink wavelength of 1545nm is used while 1590nm is used for the ground …

Qualification Of Inter-Satellite Link Laser Communication Terminals On Cubesats - Cubeisl, Benjamin Rödiger, Jorge Rosano Nonay, Christian Roubal, René Rüddenklau, Christopher Schmidt, Jan Paul Jakobs

Small Satellite Conference

Free Space Optical (FSO) communications on the rise to replace classic Radio-Frequency (RF) systems in many sectors of satellite communication. DLR has a long heritage in developing Laser Communication Terminals (LCT’s) for LEO satellites. Major requirement for the design of the terminals is the optical characterization. Beside the verification in the laboratory, the terminals must withstand the harsh conditions of launch and space and fulfil all functionalities.

To characterize the LCT’s optical properties, DLR developed and built an Optical Ground Support Equipment (OGSE) which mirrors the functionalities of an Optical Ground Station (OGS), in a small scale, to test and …

Commercial Data Relay Services In The Cis-Lunar Environment With Sstl’S Lunar Pathfinder, Ramy Kozman, Alex Da Silva Curiel

Small Satellite Conference

Many missions are planned for the lunar environment in the coming decades. Traditionally, all missions would receive telecommands direct-from-Earth and send payload data and telemetry direct-to-Earth. However, missions can benefit from reduced size, weight, power and costs and increased data rates if they forgo space-borne direct-to/from-Earth communications hardware and instead communicate with a nearby cis-lunar data relay orbiter.

Accordingly, SSTL has been working with the European Space Agency under the auspices of the Commercial Lunar Missions Support Services partnership agreement to provide Lunar communications and navigations services. This agreement will see SSTL design, build, test and operate the Lunar Pathfinder …

Design And Build Process Of A Small Satellite Deployable Uhf Antenna, Alejandro Castro, David Sadowski, Dmitriy Obukhov, Ryan Hiser, Nazia Mozaffar, Brendan Hill

Small Satellite Conference

This article presents a design, development, and testing process of a deployable right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) helical antenna for a small satellite in the UHF band. In the stowed configuration the antenna is 5cm and deploys to an operational length of 74cm. Deployment of the antenna is controlled by a DC motor and once released, extends to its full shape under spring power, a 3-turn jack-in-the-box design. The antenna is tuned and matched to correct frequency bandwidth and features an optical deployment confirmation circuit. The antenna produces an axial mode, with an average beamwidth of 60° and this is achieved …

Large, Wafer-Thin Optical Apertures Leveraging Photonic Integrated Circuits To Replace Telescopes For Communications, Cale M. Gentry, Marcus Bagnell, Shon Cook, Colby Bellew, Christopher Holland, Ify Achu, Aliyah Matthews, Navin Lingaraju, Lucas Cohen, Alessia Scotto Di Luzio, Nicole Heidel

Small Satellite Conference

To aid in driving down the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of space-based optical communications terminals, we present a large-aperture telescope-replacement technology that reshapes a beam from a single-mode fiber to ~5 cm and larger apertures on a silicon wafer by using photonic integrated circuit (PIC) components. We achieve multi-centimeter apertures by sacrificing wide-angle steering in favor of good beam quality and manageable controls. Light from a single-mode fiber is coupled to a silicon chip consisting of low-loss silicon nitride waveguides for signal distribution to large phase-controlled emitters. Our demonstrations of beam phasing across a 1.8-cm-diameter, 16-emitter phased array show …

Confronting Or Linking Csp And Ccsds? A View On How To Operate Small Satellites Today, Pierre-Alexis Lagadrillière, Tobias Brügge, Kay Müller

Small Satellite Conference

CubeL was launched early 2021 and is the first COTS cubesat which the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) of DLR is operating. It carries 3 of the most typical space-to-ground communication systems with its UHF transceiver, its S-band transceiver and its laser terminal. Main aim is to demonstrate the capabilities of the miniaturized laser terminal for high speed communications up to 100Mbps. The second aim of this cubesat is to test operations between the on-board S-band transceiver with its native CSP and GSOC’s multi-mission environment based on CCSDS and ECSS protocols and standards, e.g. the CCSDS space packet protocols.

In …

Optimization Of Command Execution Testing Procedures, Akhila Yellapragada, Vedika Ghildyal, Sydney Whilden, Deepak Mishra

Small Satellite Conference

• Current Command Execution Testing (CET) procedures are conducted manually and can be arduous and impractical for frequent testing
• Inefficiency of an integral testing procedure can lead to delays within the other teams involved in the development of the cube satellite