Search

Earth's magnetosphere is vital for today's technologically dependent society. The energy transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere triggers electromagnetic storms on Earth, knocking out power grids and infrastructure | e.g., communication and navigation systems. Despite occurring on our astrophysical doorstep, numerous physical processes connecting the solar wind and our magnetosphere remain poorly understood. To date, over a dozen science missions have own to study the magnetosphere, and many more design studies have been conducted. However, the majority of these solutions relied on large monolithic satellites, which limited the spatial resolution of these investigations, in addition to the technological limitations of the past. To counter these limitations, we propose the use of a satellite swarm, carrying numerous payloads for magnetospheric measurements. Our mission is named APIS | Applications and Potentials of Intelligent Swarms. The APIS mission aims to characterize fundamental plasma processes in the magnetosphere and measure the e ect of the solar wind on our magnetosphere. We propose a swarm of 40 CubeSats in two highly- elliptical orbits around the Earth, which perform radio tomography in the magnetotail at 8{12 Earth Radii (RE) downstream, and the subsolar magnetosphere at 8{12 RE upstream. These maps will be made at both low-resolutions (at 0.5 RE, 5 seconds cadence) and high-resolutions (at 0.025 RE, 2 seconds cadence). In addition, in-situ measurements of the magnetic and electric elds, and plasma density will be performed by on-board instruments. In this publication, we present a design study of the APIS mission, which includes the mission design, navigation, communication, processing, power systems, propulsion and other critical satellite subsystems. The science requirements of the APIS mission levy stringent system requirements, which are addressed using Commercial O -the-Shelf (COTS) technologies. We show the feasibility of the APIS mission using COTS technologies using preliminary link, power, and mass bud- gets. In addition to the technological study, we also investigated the legal considerations of the APIS mission. The APIS mission design study was part of the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2019 (ISU-SSP19) Next Generation Space Systems: Swarms Team Project. The authors of

Earth's magnetosphere is vital for today's technologically dependent society. The energy transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere triggers electromagnetic storms on Earth, knocking out power grids and infrastructure - e.g., communication and navigation systems. Despite occurring on our astrophysical doorstep, numerous physical processes connecting the solar wind and our magnetosphere remain poorly understood. To date, over a dozen science missions have flown to study the magnetosphere, and many more design studies have been conducted. However, the majority of these solutions relied on large monolithic satellites, which limited the spatial resolution of these investigations, in addition to the technological limitations of the past. To counter these limitations, we propose the use of a satellite swarm, carrying numerous payloads for magnetospheric measurements. Our mission is named APIS - Applications and Potentials of Intelligent Swarms. The APIS mission aims to characterize fundamental plasma processes in the magnetosphere and measure the effect of the solar wind on our magnetosphere. We propose a swarm of 40 CubeSats in two highly-elliptical orbits around the Earth, which perform radio tomography in the magnetotail at 8-12 Earth Radii (R E) downstream, and the subsolar magnetosphere at 8-12 R E upstream. These maps will be made at both low-resolutions (at 0.5 R E, 5 seconds cadence) and high-resolutions (at 0.025 R E, 2 seconds cadence). In addition, in-situ measurements of the magnetic and electric fields, and plasma density will be performed by on-board instruments. In this publication, we present a design study of the APIS mission, which includes the mission design, navigation, communication, processing, power systems, propulsion and other critical satellite subsystems. The science requirements of the APIS mission levy stringent system requirements, which are addressed using Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) technologies. We show the feasibility of the APIS mission using COTS technologies using preliminary link, power, and mass budgets. In addition to the technological study, we also investigated the legal considerations of the APIS mission. The APIS mission design study was part of the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2019 (ISU-SSP19) Next Generation Space Systems: Swarms Team Project. The authors of this publication are the participants of this 9-week project, in addition to the Chairs and Support staff.

Small spacecraft rarely have space for any thermal control subsystems and often must perform operations in “burst” mode as a result. The few spacecraft who do have control rely on low-complexity thermal control systems which conduct heat to the bus structure and then radiate the heat away. These simplistic techniques are sufficient for low power missions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) but are not capable of dumping the heat produced in new mission profiles that are in development. This is due to small spacecraft incorporating increasingly advanced subsystems which have difficult thermal control requirements such as propulsion systems or high-power antennas. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with NASA Ames Research Center, is developing a thermal control system for small spacecraft. This control system uses a deployable radiator panel made from carbon fiber with micro-vascular circulatory system for coolant. This paper is a follow-up on the previous year’s SmallSat conference. A bench prototype of the thermal control subsystem was designed and built. The prototype underwent a range of thermal and vibration tests at NASA Ames. Test results and lessons learned are presented. Moving forward, test conclusions will require some design parameters to be changed and the subsystem will reach TRL 6 by the end of the two-year program.

Small spacecraft have typically relied on thermal control systems in which waste heat is simply conducted though structural elements to the surface where it is radiated away. This simplistic approach is adequate for low-complexity missions to LEO, but increasingly complex mission profiles are being proposed including missions to deep space locations which present a harsher thermal environment as well as incorporating advanced capabilities which have challenging thermal control requirements such as cryogenically cooled sensors or propulsion systems. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with NASA Ames Research Center, is developing a thermal control system for small spacecraft utilizing a deployable radiator made of a micro-vascular composite material, through which a coolant can be circulated. These microvascular composite radiators contain tiny channels, as small as 100 micrometer diameter, which can only be manufactured using a novel fabrication technique developed at the University of Illinois, the Vaporization of Sacrificial Components (VaSC). Early mission concepts were evaluated to determine the design guidelines for the cooling system definition. Moving forward, thermal vacuum testing of the prototype will raise the TRL to 6 by the end of the two year development program.