Abstract STARS-C was the first trial of a tether deployment in orbit using a CubeSat to certify and acquire data for the important technology of space elevators. STARS-C is 2U in size and consists of a mother satellite (MS) and a daughter satellite (DS). It is designed to deploy a 100-m aramid fiber tether between the MS and DS. STARS-C was launched on December 9, 2016, released from J-SSOD on December 19, 2016, and operated until its re-entry on March 2, 2018. Unfortunately, the transmission conditions were so poor that detailed data on tether deployment could not be obtained. However, we found that STARS-C rotated from its JAPOS-supported optical data detected from the ground, and this rotation largely influenced the tether dynamics during and after deployment. We also estimated the tether deployment state from the STARS-C altitude history data, the satellite condition from the optical data, and additional ground tests.

    Highlights STARS-C was the first trial to certify the technology of space elevator by CubeSat. STARS-C was released from ISS on December 19, 2016, and operated until March 2, 2018. The direct detail data could not obtain by the insufficient transmission condition. We could estimate tether deployment state from optical and altitude history data.


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    Title :

    Space experimental results of STARS-C CubeSat to verify tether deployment in orbit


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 177 ; 759-770


    Publication date :

    2019-12-26


    Size :

    12 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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