The Space Technology 5 (ST-5) project is part of NASA's new millennium program. The validation objectives are to demonstrate the research-quality science capability of the ST-5 spacecraft; to operate the three spacecraft as a constellation; and to design, develop, test and flight-validate three capable micro-satellites with new technologies. A three-month flight demonstration phase is planned, beginning in March 2006. This year, the mission was re-planned for a Pegasus XL dedicated launch into an elliptical polar orbit (instead of the originally-planned geosynchronous transfer orbit.) The re-plan allows the mission to achieve the same high-level technology validation objectives with a different launch vehicle. The new mission design involves a revised science validation strategy, a new orbit and different communication strategy, while minimizing changes to the ST-5 spacecraft itself. The constellation operations concepts have also been refined. While the system engineers, orbit analysts, and operations teams were re-planning the mission, the implementation team continued to make progress on the flight hardware. Most components have been delivered, and the first spacecraft is well into integration and test.
Space Technology 5 - changing the mission design without changing the hardware
2005 IEEE Aerospace Conference ; 758-767
2005-01-01
7996691 byte
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Space Technology 5-Changing the Mission Design Without Changing the Hardware
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2005
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