SSC15-II-5 Rideshare and the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle: the Key to Low-cost Lagrange-point Missions Chris Pearson, Marissa Stender, Christopher Loghry, Joe Maly, Valentin Ivanitski Moog Integrated Systems 1113 Washington Avenue, Suite 300, Golden, CO, 80401; 303 216 9777, extension 204 [email protected] Mina Cappuccio, Darin Foreman, Ken Galal, David Mauro NASA Ames Research Center PO Box 1000, M/S 213-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000; 650 604 1313 [email protected] Keats Wilkie, Paul Speth, Trevor Jackson, Will Scott NASA Langley Research Center 4 West Taylor Street, Mail Stop 230, Hampton, VA, 23681; 757 864 420 [email protected] ABSTRACT Rideshare is a well proven approach, in both LEO and GEO, enabling low-cost space access through splitting of launch charges between multiple passengers. Demand exists from users to operate payloads at Lagrange points, but a lack of regular rides results in a deficiency in rideshare opportunities. As a result, such mission architectures currently rely on a costly dedicated launch. NASA and Moog have jointly studied the technical feasibility, risk and cost of using an Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) to offer Lagrange point rideshare opportunities. This OMV would be launched as a secondary passenger on a commercial rocket into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) and utilize the Moog ESPA secondary launch adapter. The OMV is effectively a free flying spacecraft comprising a full suite of avionics and a propulsion system capable of performing GTO to Lagrange point transfer via a weak stability boundary orbit. In addition to traditional OMV ’tug’ functionality, scenarios using the OMV to host payloads for operation at the Lagrange points have also been analyzed. This analysis has led to definition of a mission concept to allow space weather monitoring at the Earth-Sun L1 point as well as perform the technology demonstration of an advanced solar sail payload. INTRODUCTION ~92 million miles ~1 million miles NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), NASA Langley Research Center (LARC) and Moog Incorporated (Moog) have performed initial mission and spacecraft L1 system design enabling a low-cost combined operational and technology demonstration mission at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point (L1). L1 is ideally suited for making observations of the Sun-Earth system given that objects at this location are never shadowed by the Earth or Moon. The motivation for this activity was to offer reduced cost for missions looking to operate at L1 and provide a platform for future development for other missions on the edges and outside of Earth orbit. This mission concept is called Figure 1: Earth Sun L1 Lagrange Point The Example Low-cost Lagrange Investigation Exploration (ELLIE). Pearson 1 29th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites Mission Partners and along with other Moog Space has collaborated with ARC is a world-class research facility located in the NASA since the mid-80’s. heart of Silicon Valley. For more than 75 years, ARC EXISTING AND FUTURE USE OF LAGRANGE has led NASA in conducting world-class research and POINT ORBITS development in aeronautics, space exploration technologies, small spacecraft innovation, astrophysics, Missions at Lagrange Points aerospace, Earth and space science. ARC has a history of developing low-cost small spacecraft for science Launched in 1978, the International Sun-Earth Explorer mission. Starting in the early 1960’s, ARC developed 3 (ISEE-3) was the first spacecraft to be put into orbit spacecraft for the Pioneer Program, followed by the around a libration point (L1) where it operated for four Pioneer Venus Probe, the Galileo Probe, and finally years investigating the interaction between the Earth’s Lunar Prospector. In the past 15 years, ARC magnetic field and the solar wind. developed, launched, and/or executed operations for Kepler, LCROSS, IRIS, and LADEE. NASA Ames Currently in operation at the L1 libration point is the Research Center is committed to find ways to design a NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) low-cost spacecraft to operate critical missions for spacecraft that monitors the solar wind in real-time. NASA and across other US government agencies. Data from ACE is supplied to the Space Weather ARC has enjoyed successful partnerships with industry Prediction Center (SWPC) that is part of the National in developing low-cost small spacecraft. Heritage from Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration LCROSS and LADEE fed into the concept discussed in (NOAA) to enable advance warnings of geomagnetic this paper to transport secondary payloads from storms. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory GTO/GEO to L1. (SOHO) is a European led mission that has been operating at L1 since 1996 following multiple mission LaRC has a successful history of developing extensions and also provides near real-time solar data lightweight and deployable structures and materials for space weather prediction. The NASA Wind technologies for space applications dating back to spacecraft has also been in operation at L1 since 2004 Project Echo in the 1960s. Ongoing spacecraft and provides complete plasma, energetic particle, and structures research includes large solar arrays, inflatable magnetic field input for magnetospheric and aerodynamic decelerators, advanced polymers, ionospheric studies. composite materials, and solar sail structures and systems. LaRC is the developer of Clear Polyimide-1 Geomagnetic storms can impact the electric power grid, (CP1), the state-of-the-art material for high aircraft operations, the accuracy of the Global performance solar sail membranes, used on NASA’s Positioning System (GPS) as well as affecting both NanoSail D solar sail mission.1 LaRC also leads the unmanned and manned spacecraft. For example, in agency in solar sail structures modeling, simulation, July 2012, a massive solar storm missed Earth by one week purely due to the instantaneous position of the structural analysis, and ground validation testing, 3 serving as the structures validation lead for NASA’s Earth with respect to the sun at that time . It is thought that if Earth had been hit by the storm, the event would ST7 and ST9 solar sail studies, and the In-Space 4 Propulsion Technology (ISPT) development project, have been as powerful as the 1859 Carrington event NASA’s most significant solar sail technology likely with devastating consequences for may development project to date.2 Under the ISPT program, technological systems. LaRC coordinated ground validation testing and Most recently, in February 2015, (NOAA) Deep Space analysis activities for the project’s two 20-m solar sail Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) was launched and in ground demonstrator systems. Both ISPT solar sail June 2015 arrived at the L1 Lagrange point. DSCOVR systems have since been studied for potential L1 will eventually replace ACE as America’s primary technology demonstration missions. One such mission warning system for solar magnetic storms headed concept is described below as an example OMV towards Earth but, for now, the two spacecraft operate rideshare opportunity. in tandem. In addition to space weather-monitoring Moog is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and instruments, DSCOVR is carrying two NASA Earth- integrator of precision motion control products and observing instruments that will gather a range of systems for a variety of markets including satellites and measurements from ozone and aerosol amounts, to space vehicle. Moog Integrated Systems provides a changes in Earth's radiation budget—the balance focal point to harness the breadth and depth of Moog’s between incoming radiation (largely from the sun) and capability for customers at the advanced mission stage. that which is reflected from Earth. Moog’s Mountain View operation is very near ARC Pearson 2 29th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites Future Missions at Lagrange Points durations desired for an operational space weather early warning system (10 years or more) solar sail propulsion Many missions are in the proposal phase for operations 5 at L1 but the next spacecraft destined for launch is the systems have been proposed . A solar sail uses a large, lightweight reflective membrane to develop thrust from European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA-led Laser direct momentum transfer of reflected solar photons6. Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder. Since this requires no propellant, a solar sail can, in LISA Pathfinder will place two test masses in a nearly principle, provide thrust indefinitely, subject only to the perfect gravitational free-fall, and will control and measure their relative motion with unprecedented durability of its membrane sail in the space accuracy. LISA Pathfinder will prove key systems such environment. as drag-free attitude control of a spacecraft with two Since the technological maturity of solar sails is still proof masses, the feasibility of laser interferometry in a relatively low, a technology demonstration mission specific frequency band as well as the general reliability (TDM) for a solar sail system capable of meeting the of key components. A successful LISA Pathfinder requirements for an improved warning time space mission would allow the full LISA system to be built weather monitoring system is needed. Ideally, this and deployed that would be able to detect and solar sail TDM would demonstrate deployment and accurately measure gravitational waves. operability of the solar sail system in its eventual In this paper, a set of requirements relevant to such operational environment,