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CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation

Received: 27 March 2015    Accepted: 31 March 2015    Published: 18 April 2015
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Abstract

Microsatellites known as “CubeSats” have recently been developed to enable comparatively inexpensive and timely access to space for small payloads. As a new standard for small satellites, the CubeSat has shown great promise for space applications such as earth observation, planetary science and space physics mission. In this paper a “CubeSail” mission – a CubeSat deployed with a solar sail –for near earth object (NEO) observation is introduced. It is important to observe a NEO which may intersect or pass close to earth space before instigating any procedure for hazard avoidance. Furthermore, close observation of NEO may also be important for exploiting the new resources and exploring new living environment in outer space. This paper describes the concept of a large numbers of CubeSails deployed in the vicinity of the NEO for observation purposes. The dynamic model of the NEO-centreddis placed orbit in space is analysed. The solar radiation pressure on the sail can be utilised as propulsion to compensate for third body gravitational perturbation. To maintain the relative motion/position between a CubeSail and the NEO, periodic initial conditions are searched, which also must satisfy some observation mission constraints. A simulation study is carried out using the near earth asteroid Apophis 99942, discovered in recent years.

Published in American Journal of Aerospace Engineering (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11
Page(s) 1-5
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

CubeSail, Multi-Object Global Optimisation, Relative Motion, Apophis 99942

References
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[2] Shiroma, W., et al., CubeSats: A bright future for nanosatellites. Central European Journal of Engineering, 2011. 1(1): p. 9-15.
[3] Gill, E., et al. Formation Flying to Enhance the QB50 Space Network. 2010.
[4] Lappas, V., et al., CubeSail: A low cost CubeSat based solar sail demonstration mission. Advances in Space Research, 2011. 48(11): p. 1890-1901.
[5] Johnson, L., et al., Status of solar sail technology within NASA. Advances in Space Research, 2011. 48(11): p. 1687-1694.
[6] Pergola, P., Small satellite survey mission to the second Earth moon. Advances in Space Research, 2013. 52(9): p. 1622-1633.
[7] Kawaguchi, J.i., A. Fujiwara, and T. Uesugi, Hayabusa—Its technology and science accomplishment summary and Hayabusa-2. Acta Astronautica, 2008. 62(10–11): p. 639-647.
[8] A'Hearn, M., et al., Deep impact: excavating comet Tempel 1. Science, 2005. 310(5746): p. 258-264.
[9] Gálvez, A. and I. Carnelli, ESA’S DON QUIJOTE MISSION: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF AN ARTIFICIAL IMPACT CRATER ON AN ASTEROID. 2006.
[10] Eneev, T.M., R.Z. Akhmetshin, and G.B. Efimov, On the asteroid hazard. Cosmic Research, 2012. 50(2): p. 93-102.
[11] Gates, M. and L. Johnson, NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, in Handbook of Cosmic Hazards and Planetary Defense, F. Allahdadi and J.N. Pelton, Editors. 2014, Springer International Publishing. p. 1-7.
[12] Sugimoto, Y., et al., Hazardous near Earth asteroid mitigation campaign planning based on uncertain information on fundamental asteroid characteristics. Acta Astronautica, 2014. 103(0): p. 333-357.
[13] McInnes, C.R., Solar sail mission applications for non-Keplerian orbits. Acta Astronautica, 1999. 45(4-9): p. 567-575.
[14] McInnes, C.R., Passive Control of Displaced Solar Sail Orbit. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 1998. 21(6).
[15] Vasile, M., A multi-mirror solution for the deflection of dangerous NEOS. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 2009. 14(12): p. 4139-4152.
[16] Ferraz-Mello, S. and J. Fernández, Potential impact detection for near-Earth asteroids: The case of 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4). 2005.
[17] Vasile, M., C.A. Maddock, and G. Radice. Mirror formation control in the vicinity of an asteroid. in AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit. 2008. Honolulu, Hawaii.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yang Yang, Xiaokui Yue, Yong Li, Andrew G. Dempster, Chris. Rizos. (2015). CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation. American Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 2(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11

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    ACS Style

    Yang Yang; Xiaokui Yue; Yong Li; Andrew G. Dempster; Chris. Rizos. CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation. Am. J. Aerosp. Eng. 2015, 2(1), 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11

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    AMA Style

    Yang Yang, Xiaokui Yue, Yong Li, Andrew G. Dempster, Chris. Rizos. CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation. Am J Aerosp Eng. 2015;2(1):1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11,
      author = {Yang Yang and Xiaokui Yue and Yong Li and Andrew G. Dempster and Chris. Rizos},
      title = {CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation},
      journal = {American Journal of Aerospace Engineering},
      volume = {2},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajae.20150201.11},
      abstract = {Microsatellites known as “CubeSats” have recently been developed to enable comparatively inexpensive and timely access to space for small payloads. As a new standard for small satellites, the CubeSat has shown great promise for space applications such as earth observation, planetary science and space physics mission. In this paper a “CubeSail” mission – a CubeSat deployed with a solar sail –for near earth object (NEO) observation is introduced. It is important to observe a NEO which may intersect or pass close to earth space before instigating any procedure for hazard avoidance. Furthermore, close observation of NEO may also be important for exploiting the new resources and exploring new living environment in outer space. This paper describes the concept of a large numbers of CubeSails deployed in the vicinity of the NEO for observation purposes. The dynamic model of the NEO-centreddis placed orbit in space is analysed. The solar radiation pressure on the sail can be utilised as propulsion to compensate for third body gravitational perturbation. To maintain the relative motion/position between a CubeSail and the NEO, periodic initial conditions are searched, which also must satisfy some observation mission constraints. A simulation study is carried out using the near earth asteroid Apophis 99942, discovered in recent years.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - CubeSail Displaced Orbit Design for Near Earth Object Observation
    AU  - Yang Yang
    AU  - Xiaokui Yue
    AU  - Yong Li
    AU  - Andrew G. Dempster
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    Y1  - 2015/04/18
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11
    T2  - American Journal of Aerospace Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Aerospace Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Aerospace Engineering
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    EP  - 5
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-4821
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajae.20150201.11
    AB  - Microsatellites known as “CubeSats” have recently been developed to enable comparatively inexpensive and timely access to space for small payloads. As a new standard for small satellites, the CubeSat has shown great promise for space applications such as earth observation, planetary science and space physics mission. In this paper a “CubeSail” mission – a CubeSat deployed with a solar sail –for near earth object (NEO) observation is introduced. It is important to observe a NEO which may intersect or pass close to earth space before instigating any procedure for hazard avoidance. Furthermore, close observation of NEO may also be important for exploiting the new resources and exploring new living environment in outer space. This paper describes the concept of a large numbers of CubeSails deployed in the vicinity of the NEO for observation purposes. The dynamic model of the NEO-centreddis placed orbit in space is analysed. The solar radiation pressure on the sail can be utilised as propulsion to compensate for third body gravitational perturbation. To maintain the relative motion/position between a CubeSail and the NEO, periodic initial conditions are searched, which also must satisfy some observation mission constraints. A simulation study is carried out using the near earth asteroid Apophis 99942, discovered in recent years.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China

  • School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China

  • School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

  • School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

  • School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

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