11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 (12) United States Patent (To) Patent No.: US 9,938,023 B2 Clagett et al. (45) Date of Patent: Apr. 10, 2018 (54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN B64G 1/66 (2006.01) INTEGRATED SATELLITE PLATFORM B64G 1/44 (2006.01) HOIJ 49126 (2006.01) (71) Applicant: The United States of America as (52) U.S. Cl. represented by the Administrator of CPC ........... B64G 1/1021 (2013.01); B64G 1/222 the National Aeronautics and Space (2013.01); B64G 1/44 (2013.01); B64G 1/66 Administration, Washington, DC (US) (2013.01); HOIJ 49126 (2013.01) (72) Inventors: Charles E. Clagett, Accokeek, MD (58) Field of Classification Search (US); Luis H. Santos Soto, CPC .. B64G 1/44; B64G 1/66; B64G 1/222; HOIJ Greenbackville, VA (US); Scott V. 49/26 Hesh, Greenbackville, MD (US); Scott USPC ............................................ 244/172.6, 172.7 R. Starin, Washington, DC (US); See application file for complete search history. Salman L Sheikh, Silver Spring, MD (US); Michael Hesse, Annapolis, MD Primary Examiner Brian M O'Hara (US); Nikolaos Paschalidis, Silver Assistant Examiner Keith L Dixon Spring, MD (US); Michael A. Johnson, (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Heather Goo; Bryan A. Columbia, MD (US); Aprille J. Geurts; Mark P. Dvorscak Ericsson, Washington, DC (US) (73) Assignee: The United States of America as (57) ABSTRACT represented by the Administrator of A system, method, and computer-readable storage devices the National Aeronautics and Space for a 6U CubeSat with a magnetometer boom. The example Administration, Washington, DC (US) 6U CubeSat can include an on-board computing device (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this connected to an electrical power system, wherein the elec- patent is extended or adjusted under 35 trical power system receives power from at least one of a U.S.C. 154(b) by 390 days. battery and at least one solar panel, a first fluxgate sensor attached to an extendable boom, a release mechanism for (21) Appl. No.: 14/850,708 extending the extendable boom, at least one second fluxgate sensor fixed within the satellite, an ion neutral mass spec- (22) Filed: Sep. 10, 2015 trometer, and a relativistic electron/proton telescope. The on-board computing device can receive data from the first (65) Prior Publication Data fluxgate sensor, the at least one second fluxgate sensor, the ion neutral mass spectrometer, and the relativistic electron/ US 2017/0073087 Al Mar. 16, 2017 proton telescope via the bus, and can then process the data via an algorithm to deduce a geophysical signal. (51) Int. Cl. B64G 1/10 (2006.01) B64G 1/22 (2006.01) 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets 106 110 112 100 108 REL. MECH.' SLIDE COMPACT RELATIVISTIC 102 ION NEUTRAL MASS ELECTRON PROTON BOOM/NO BOOM SPECTROMETER MAGNETOMETER TELESCOPE .......T...... ............................................1 .................. 124 INTERFACE & FLEXIBLE ONBOARD RADIO SPECIAL SVC ELECTRICAL BATTERY 128 114 COMPUTER POWER SYSTEM BEACON GYRO X 4 118122 116-' I ----------- J~--------------- 120 GPS ! f ~y - L~ ANTENNA 130 - 126 126 SOLAR PANELS 104 Z Z 110 >>2 fgoo 108 ~REL.IDEWECH.SL COMPACT RELATIVISTIC ION NEUTRAL MASS 102 ELECTRON PROTON BOOM/NO BOOM SPECTROMETER MAGNETOMETER TELESCOPE I I I I I I r LcnioLc INTERFACE & ONBOARD SPECIALySVC ELECTRICAL ~ RADIO 114 COMPUTER BATTERY POWER SYSTEM III BEACON ~ 128 GYRO X 4 122 116 i L I I ~L--------- ------------ 120 GPS I 5i, 5i1E I ANTENNA 130 L % 126 126 (FIG. 1 I SOLAR PANELS U.S. Patent Apr. 10, 2018 Sheet 2 of 6 US 9,938,023 B2 TzG. z /300 318 .1, TASC SOLAR CELLS 302 011 v 312 314 318 308 306 322 w 314 316 310 310 304 FIG. 3A F'IG. 3B b SPECIAL SERVICES CARD 114 122 CUSTOMER INTERFACE CARD +5V FPSS 404 +5V RESETTABLE EPS FUSES OPTION +5V WHEELS 406 410 0 —12V AG VOLTAGE I—LIMITED —5V 402 412 ~EXPEMRIMENTS INVERTERS SWITCHES —5V INMS 110 116t GYROS x3 408 I/O 118 NanoMind F'IG. 4 W 0 N W N U.S. Patent Apr. 10, 2018 Sheet 5 of 6 US 9,938,023 B2 CI—) 660 600 STORAGE DEVICE 630 640 650 MOD 1 662 INPUT 6901.01 MOD 2 664 DEVICE MEMORY RAM MOD 3 666 670 OUTPUT DEVICE BUS COMMUNICAIION 680 INTERFACE 610 622 CACHE 1-*-;-,~PRO~CESSOR~~ 620 US 9,938,023 B2 N SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN However, the larger area and additional components of a 6U INTEGRATED SATELLITE PLATFORM CubeSat can require an enhanced bus and other support structure over a IU CubeSat. The improved CubeSat dis- STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY closed herein can measure ion and neutral composition on an SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 5 instrument less than 2U in volume, and offers a reduced size by an order of magnitude, and also offers significant reduc- The invention described herein was made in part by tions in power requirements over the state of the art. employees of the United States Government and may be Numerous science instruments, some of which are pro- manufactured and used by or for the Government of the vided as examples herein, can benefit from added capabili- United States ofAmerica for governmental purposes without 10 ties and size of a 6U CubeSat. The 6U bus disclosed herein the payment of any royalties thereon or therefore. enables a greater range of Heliophysics science applications, while focusing on both smaller platforms and constellations BACKGROUND of smaller platforms. No other flight-proven 6U bus exists for applications within the Low Cost Access to Space 1. Technical Field 15 (LCAS) program. Therefore, the 6U CubeSat bus provided The present disclosure relates to satellite technology, and and disclosed herein enables a viable and cost-effective 6U more specifically, to an integrated platform for multiple platform for small, capable science platforms. types of sensors and devices in a small form factor satellite. The 6U CubeSat bus described herein can be used to 2. Introduction conduct small, yet meaningful, heliophysics scientific mis- CubeSats, short for cube satellites, have demonstrated 20 sions in a cost-effective way. In one embodiment, the 6U exceptional potential for low-cost science platforms in CubeSat bus can support instrumentation that provides mea- space. To-date, CubeSat buses employed for research have surements of high latitude Field-Aligned Currents (FAC), been primarily based on the proven 3U (30x10x10 cm) which are a manifestation of magnetospheric dynamic standard, while mostly successful, limits instrument accom- responses to solar wind disturbances and to energy input in modation. Payloads are constrained primarily due to limited 25 the upper atmosphere. Simultaneous observations of densi- spacecraft resources such as power and volume. Science ties and velocities of the ion and neutral constituents will instruments can benefit from added capabilities provided by provide the response of the upper atmosphere, while mea- a 6U CubeSat (30 cmx20 cmx10 cm). A viable 6U bus surements of energetic proton and ion particle fluxes are would enable a greater range of Heliophysics science appli- included to determine the response of the radiation belts. cations, and address the Decadal Surveys focus on both 30 Because of the uncertainty in the final orbit of such a smaller platforms and constellations of smaller platforms. mission, the science objectives are flexible and adaptable to Unfortunately, no flight-proven 6U bus is in existence, even either a high or low inclination orbit. At high inclination for applications within the Low Cost Access to Space orbits, the 6U CubeSat is well-suited to study the precipi- (LCAS) program. Therefore, the provision of a viable and tation of radiation belt particles into Earth's upper atmo- cost-effective 6U platform is an important step to achieve the 35 sphere, the auroral circuit, and composition changes in the Decadal Surveys goal of small, capable science platforms. auroral zone due to coupling with the solar wind. At low Further, the 6U standard opens many possibilities, but at the inclinations, the 6U CubeSat can focus more on the elec- same time introduces multiple obstacles to be overcome. trodynamics oflow -latitude phenomena. Because ofthis, the measurement objectives and requirements are determined BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 40 based on experiences with similar larger instruments that have flown previously. FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 6U system architec- FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 6U system architec- ture; ture 100. The 6U CubeSat can integrate numerous compo- FIG. 2 illustrates the exterior of an example 6U satellite; nents, some of which are off-the-shelf components, into an FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate different angles of the exterior 45 operational bus system. Some instruments can be integrated of an example 6U satellite and the various external-facing to evaluate subsystem functionality. Other example compo- components; nents include science instruments such as a magnetometer FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed view of the interface and 102, an ion/neutral mass spectrometer 110, an energetic special services card shown in FIG. 1; particle spectrometer, a gyroscope 116, an onboard compute FIGS. 5A, 513, and 5C illustrate the example 6U satellite 50 118, a battery 124, a compact relativistic electron proton of FIG. 2 with the magnetometer boom extended; and telescope 112, a radio beacon 128, an antenna 130, solar FIG. 6 illustrates an example system embodiment. panels 126, a global positioning system transceiver 120, and an interface and special services module 114. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The example magnetometer 102 includes a dual approach 55 to CubeSat magnetometry and can include a total of up to 4 A system, method, and computer-readable storage devices separate fluxgate sensors 104, 106. One miniature in-house are disclosed for enhanced capabilities of a 6U CubeSat. The fluxgate 106 is extended at the end of a small boom in the CubeSat standard provides size and weight guidelines for typical science magnetometer configuration, and provides miniaturized satellites that are simpler to design, build, test, the ground truth magnetic field observations.