In order to provide the best survey ever of the geomagnetic field and its space-time characteristic, the Swarm satellite constellation shall consist of 3 spacecraft in near-polar low Earth orbits. Two satellites shall fly close together side-by-side and as low as possible. The third satellite shall fly about 80 km higher with a local time separation from the lower pair of up to 9 hours at the end of the 4-years Swarm mission. Since the 3 satellites shall be started by a single small launcher, the constellation deployment will be performed by the spacecraft orbital control system. The local time separation will be implemented by an inclination difference between the upper satellite and the lower pair, which is one driver of the required propellant. The orbit & constellation maintenance strategy are driven by the high atmospheric density as well as the close constellation of the lower pair. The Swarm scientific payload consisting of two magnetometers, an electric field instrument and an accelerometer put a set of specific requirements to the Swarm Satellite design and its attitude and orbit control system. The constellation deployment & maintenance strategy developed by OHB for Swarm is presented. The impacts on the Swarm Satellite design under consideration of the mission specific constraints are addressed.
Swarm constellation deployment & maintenance
Swarm-Positionsentwicklung und -wartung
2005
4 Seiten, 3 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 2 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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