A wide variety of missions could be enabled by extended orbital flight in extreme low Earth orbit, defined as an altitude range of 150–250 km. This study investigates the feasibility of a nanosatellite (mass ) using a propulsive, attitude control system in conjunction with a primary propulsion system to extend mission life. The primary propulsion system consists of a pair of electrospray thrusters providing a combined thrust of 0.12 mN at 1 W. Pulsed plasma thrusters are used for attitude control. The mission consists of two phases. In Phase I, a 4U CubeSat is deployed from a 414 km orbit and uses the primary propulsion system to deorbit to an initial altitude within the targeted range of . Phase I lasts 12.73 days, with the propulsion system consuming 5.6 g of propellant to deliver a of 28.12 m/s. In Phase II the mission is maintained until the remaining 25.2 g of propellant is consumed. Phase II lasts for 30.27 days, corresponding to a of 57.22 m/s with a mean altitude of 244 km. Using this approach, a primary mission life of 30.27 days could be achieved, compared with 3.1 days without primary propulsion.
Extended Lifetime of CubeSats in the Lower Thermosphere with Active Attitude Control
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 58 , 6 ; 1876-1892
2021-08-31
17 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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