Small Spacecraft Technology State of the Art
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NASA/TP–2015–216648/REV1 Small Spacecraft Technology State of the Art Mission Design Division Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California December 2015 NASA STI Program . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. to the advancement of aeronautics and space Collected papers from scientific and science. The NASA scientific and technical technical conferences, symposia, seminars, information (STI) program plays a key part or other meetings sponsored or in helping NASA maintain this important co-sponsored by NASA. role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, The NASA STI Program operates under the technical, or historical information from auspices of the Agency Chief Information NASA programs, projects, and missions, Officer. It collects, organizes, provides for often concerned with subjects having archiving, and disseminates NASA’s STI. substantial public interest. The NASA STI Program provides access to the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database • TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. English- and its public interface, the NASA Technical language translations of foreign scientific Report Server, thus providing one of the and technical material pertinent to largest collection of aeronautical and space NASA’s mission. science STI in the world. Results are Specialized services also include creating published in both non-NASA channels and custom thesauri, building customized by NASA in the NASA STI Report Series, databases, and organizing and publishing which includes the following report types: research results. • TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of For more information about the NASA STI completed research or a major significant Program, see the following: phase of research that present the results of NASA programs and include extensive • Access the NASA STI program home page data or theoretical analysis. Includes compilations of significant scientific and at http://www.sti.nasa.gov technical data and information deemed to • E-mail your question via the Internet to be of continuing reference value. NASA [email protected] counterpart of peer-reviewed formal professional papers, but having less • Fax your question to the NASA STI Help stringent limitations on manuscript length Desk at 443-757-5803 and extent of graphic presentations. • TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. • Phone the NASA STI Help Desk at Scientific and technical findings that are 443-757-5802 preliminary or of specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, working papers, and • Write to: bibliographies that contain minimal NASA STI Help Desk annotation. Does not contain extensive NASA Center for AeroSpace Information analysis. 7115 Standard Drive Hanover, MD 21076–1320 • CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientific and technical findings by NASA-sponsored contractors and grantees. NASA/TP–2015–216648/REV1 Small Spacecraft Technology State of the Art Mission Design Division Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 94035-1000 December 2015 The use of trademarks or names of manufacturers in this report is for accurate reporting and does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, of such products or manufacturers by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information National Technical Information Service 7115 Standard Drive 5301 Shawnee Road Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Alexandria, VA 22312 443-757-5802 703-605-6000 This report is also available in electronic form at Abstract This report provides an overview of the current state of the art of small spacecraft technology. It was first commissionedby NASA’s SmallSpaceraft Technology Program (SSTP) inmid-2013 in response to the rapid growth in interest in using small spacecraft for many types of missions in Earth orbit and beyond, and revised in mid-2015. For the sake of this assessment, small spacecraft are defined to be spacecraft with a mass less than 180 kg. This report provides a summary of the state of the art for each of the following small spacecraft technology domains: Complete Spacecraft, Power, Propulsion, Guidance Navigation and Control, Structures, Materials and Mechanisms, Thermal Control, Command and Data Handling, Communications, Integration, Launch and Deployment, Ground Data Systems and Operations, and Passive Deorbit Devices. Due to the high market penetration of cubesats, particular emphasis is placed on the state of the art of cubesat-related technology. 1 Disclaimer The document lists or describes many specific products and technologies as examples and references but their inclusion does not imply any endorsement by NASA. Failure to include any specific prod ucts or technologies that might be considered relevant under a particular topic was unintentional. Acknowledgements This report has been based largely on desktop research and published documents on small space craft technology, industry consultation and participation at conferences. Helpful suggestions and contributions were also received from numerous people at NASA Ames Research Center, and in par ticular the authors wish to acknowledge the reviewers James Bell, Josh Benton, Matt D’Ortenzio, Josh Forgione, Vanessa Kuroda, Dawn McIntosh, Marc Murbach, Matt Nehrenz, Hugo Sanchez, Matt Sorgenfrei, Sarah Thompson, Eddie Uribe and Bruce Yost. From NASA Glenn Research Center the authors would like to thank the reviewers Matt Deans, Fred Elliot, Josh Freeh, David Jacobson, William Marshall, Felix A. Miranda, Tim Smith and Brandon White. Finally, the authors would like to thank all of the compaines, universities and organizations who provided information for this report. 2 NASA Ames Research Center, Mission Design Division September, 2015 Division Chief: Chad Frost Project Manager: Elwood Agasid Editor: Rogan Shimmin Contributing Authors: Elwood Agasid, Roland Burton, Roberto Carlino, Gregory Defouw, Andres Dono Perez, Arif Göktuğ Karacalıoğlu, Benjamin Klamm, Abraham Rademacher, James Schalkwyck, Rogan Shimmin, Julia Tilles, Sasha Weston 3 Contents 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Objective .......................................... 14 1.2 Scope ............................................ 14 1.3 Assessment ......................................... 14 1.4 Overview .......................................... 15 2 Integrated Spacecraft Platforms 18 2.1 Introduction ......................................... 18 2.2 State of the Art ....................................... 18 2.3 On the Horizon ....................................... 22 2.4 Conclusion .......................................... 23 3 Power 25 3.1 Introduction ......................................... 25 3.2 State of the art ....................................... 25 3.2.1 Power Generation .................................. 25 3.2.2 Power Storage .................................... 28 3.2.3 Power Management and Distribution ....................... 32 3.3 On the horizon ....................................... 35 3.3.1 Power Generation .................................. 35 3.4 Conclusion .......................................... 38 4 Propulsion 40 4.1 Introduction ......................................... 40 4.2 State of the art ....................................... 41 4.2.1 Chemical Propulsion Systems ........................... 41 4.2.2 Electric Propulsion Systems ............................ 50 4.2.3 Propellant-less Systems .............................. 57 4.3 On the Horizon ....................................... 57 4.4 Conclusion .......................................... 60 5 Guidance, Navigation and Control 63 5.1 Introduction ......................................... 63 5.2 State of the art ....................................... 63 5.2.1 Integrated Units .................................. 63 5.2.2 Reaction Wheels .................................. 64 5.2.3 Magnetorquers ................................... 66 5.2.4 Thrusters ...................................... 66 5.2.5 Star Trackers .................................... 66 5.2.6 Magnetometers ................................... 66 5.2.7 Sun Sensors ..................................... 68 5.2.8 Earth Sensors .................................... 69 5.2.9 Gyros ........................................ 69 5.2.10 GPS ......................................... 71 5.2.11 Deep Space Navigation ............................... 71 5.3 On the Horizon ....................................... 72 5.4 Conclusion .......................................... 72 4 6 Structures, Materials and Mechanisms 74 6.1 Introduction . 74 6.2 State of the art . 74 6.2.1 Primary Structure . 75 6.2.2 Mechanisms . 76 6.3 On the Horizon . 78 6.4 Radiation Effects and Mitigation Strategies . 80 6.4.1 Shielding from the Space Environment . 80 6.4.2 Inherent Mass Shielding . 81 6.4.3 Ad Hoc Shielding . 82 6.5 Conclusion . 82 7 Thermal Control System 84 7.1 Introduction . 84 7.2 State of the Art . 84 7.2.1 Passive Systems . 84 7.2.2 Active Systems . 88 7.3 On the Horizon . 93 7.4 Conclusion . 95 8 Command and Data Handling 98 8.1 Introduction . 98 8.2 State of the art . 98 8.2.1 Form Factor . 98 8.2.2 On-Board Computing . 98 8.2.3 Memory and Electronic Components . 100 8.2.4 Bus Electrical Interfaces and I/O . 103 8.2.5 Electronic Power Supplies . 104 8.3 On the Horizon . 104 8.4 Radiation mitigation and tolerance schemes . 104 8.4.1 Radiation mitigation and tolerance schemes . 105 8.4.2 Component Selection . 105 8.4.3 Protection Circuits . 105 8.4.4 Memory Protection . 106 8.4.5 Communication Protection . 106 8.4.6 Parallel Processing