Abstract
With an increase in the use of small, modular, resource-limited satellites for Earth orbiting applications, the benefit to be had from a model-based architecture that rapidly searches the mission trade-space and identifies near-optimal designs is greater than ever. This work presents an architecture that identifies trends between conflicting objectives (e.g. lifecycle cost and performance) and decision variables (e.g. orbit altitude and inclination) such that informed assessment can be made as to which design/s to take on for further analysis. The models within the architecture exploit analytic methods where possible, in order avoid computationally expensive numerical propagation, and achieve rapid convergence. Two mission cases are studied; the first is an Earth observation satellite and presents a trade-off between ground sample distance and revisit time over a ground target, given altitude as the decision variable. The second is a satellite with a generic scientific payload and shows a more involved trade-off, between data return to a ground station and cost of the mission, given variations in the orbit altitude, inclination and ground station latitude. Results of each case are presented graphically and it is clear that non-intuitive results are captured that would typically be missed using traditional, point-design methods, where only discrete scenarios are examined.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 321-332 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Acta Astronautica |
| Volume | 105 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 12 Oct 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2014 |
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Keywords
- CubeSat
- LEO
- Mbse
- mission performance
- trade-space
- earth observation satellites
- EO
Cite this
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Rapid model-based inter-disciplinary design of a CubeSat mission. / Lowe, C. J.; Macdonald, M.
In: Acta Astronautica, Vol. 105, No. 1, 12.2014, p. 321-332.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid model-based inter-disciplinary design of a CubeSat mission
AU - Lowe, C. J.
AU - Macdonald, M.
N1 - Date of Acceptance: 02/10/2014
PY - 2014/12
Y1 - 2014/12
N2 - With an increase in the use of small, modular, resource-limited satellites for Earth orbiting applications, the benefit to be had from a model-based architecture that rapidly searches the mission trade-space and identifies near-optimal designs is greater than ever. This work presents an architecture that identifies trends between conflicting objectives (e.g. lifecycle cost and performance) and decision variables (e.g. orbit altitude and inclination) such that informed assessment can be made as to which design/s to take on for further analysis. The models within the architecture exploit analytic methods where possible, in order avoid computationally expensive numerical propagation, and achieve rapid convergence. Two mission cases are studied; the first is an Earth observation satellite and presents a trade-off between ground sample distance and revisit time over a ground target, given altitude as the decision variable. The second is a satellite with a generic scientific payload and shows a more involved trade-off, between data return to a ground station and cost of the mission, given variations in the orbit altitude, inclination and ground station latitude. Results of each case are presented graphically and it is clear that non-intuitive results are captured that would typically be missed using traditional, point-design methods, where only discrete scenarios are examined.
AB - With an increase in the use of small, modular, resource-limited satellites for Earth orbiting applications, the benefit to be had from a model-based architecture that rapidly searches the mission trade-space and identifies near-optimal designs is greater than ever. This work presents an architecture that identifies trends between conflicting objectives (e.g. lifecycle cost and performance) and decision variables (e.g. orbit altitude and inclination) such that informed assessment can be made as to which design/s to take on for further analysis. The models within the architecture exploit analytic methods where possible, in order avoid computationally expensive numerical propagation, and achieve rapid convergence. Two mission cases are studied; the first is an Earth observation satellite and presents a trade-off between ground sample distance and revisit time over a ground target, given altitude as the decision variable. The second is a satellite with a generic scientific payload and shows a more involved trade-off, between data return to a ground station and cost of the mission, given variations in the orbit altitude, inclination and ground station latitude. Results of each case are presented graphically and it is clear that non-intuitive results are captured that would typically be missed using traditional, point-design methods, where only discrete scenarios are examined.
KW - CubeSat
KW - LEO
KW - Mbse
KW - mission performance
KW - trade-space
KW - earth observation satellites
KW - EO
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908284876&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/acta-astronautica
U2 - 10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.10.002
DO - 10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.10.002
M3 - Article
VL - 105
SP - 321
EP - 332
JO - Acta Astronautica
T2 - Acta Astronautica
JF - Acta Astronautica
SN - 0094-5765
IS - 1
ER -