Abstract A femto-satellite usually has ultra low cost and light weight. Thus, a cluster of femto-satellites is able to be deployed massively in a large scale and can reduce difficulties of some aerospace missions such as space multi-point collaborative measurement. Wireless self-organized network can be rapidly established without pre-deployment of fixed infrastructures and thus can make it possible for femto-satellites to collect data of distributed measurement. This paper introduces Stardust, a cluster of femto-satellites, to exploit their capacity of distributed measurement in the space. The design of Stardust consists of subsystems, space self-organized networking and thermal control. After the satellites were launched into the low earth orbit, experiments were carried out to verify the distributed measurement performance including multi-point wireless networking and measurement of the geomagnetic field. Results show that Stardust can work properly and effectively in a long period, which is proved to be a good reference for future femto-satellite design and space distributed measurement systems.
Highlights As the first on-orbit femto-satellite, Stardust was launched in 2015 and successfully operated in the space. The design of Stardust consists of subsystems, space self-organized networking and thermal control. Experiments are carried out including multi-point wireless networking and measurement of the geomagnetic field. Results show that Stardust can work normally and effectively in a long period.
The design and experiment of stardust femto-satellite
Acta Astronautica ; 174 ; 72-81
2020-04-16
10 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
NTRS | 1997
|Simulation of Femto-Satellite Heat Transfer
AIAA | 2012
|SLUB | 2008
|Stardust Sample Return Capsule Design Experience
AIAA | 1999
|