Low Earth Orbit Satellite Design

320 Pages·2018·24.294 MB·English

by  George Sebestyen,Steve Fujikawa,Nicholas Galassi,Alex Chuchra (auth.)

Space Technology Library
George Sebestyen
Steve Fujikawa
Nicholas Galassi
Alex Chuchra
Low Earth
Orbit Satellite
Design
Low Earth Orbit Satellite Design
SPACE TECHNOLOGY LIBRARY
Published jointly by Microcosm Press and Springer
The Space Technology Library Editorial Board
Managing Editor: James R. Wertz (Microcosm, Inc., El Segundo, CA)
Editorial Board: Roland Doré (Professor and Director International Space
University, Strasbourg)
Tom Logsdon (Senior member of Technical Staff, Space Division,
Rockwell International)
F. Landis Markley (NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center)
Robert G. Melton (Professor of Aerospace Engineering,
Pennsylvania State University)
Keiken Ninomiya (Professor, Institute of Space & Astronautical
Science)
Jehangir J. Pocha (Letchworth, Herts.)
Rex W. Ridenoure (CEO and Co-founder at Ecliptic Enterprises
Corporation)
Gael Squibb (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology)
Martin Sweeting (Professor of Satellite Engineering, University
of Surrey)
David A. Vallado (Senior Research Astrodynamicist, CSSI/AGI)
Richard Van Allen (Vice President and Director, Space Systems
Division, Microcosm, Inc.)
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6575
George Sebestyen • Steve Fujikawa
Nicholas Galassi • Alex Chuchra
Low Earth Orbit Satellite
Design
George Sebestyen Steve Fujikawa
McLean, VA, USA Crofton, MD, USA
Nicholas Galassi Alex Chuchra
Bethesda, MD, USA Arnold, MD, USA
Space Technology Library
ISBN 978-3-319-68314-0 ISBN 978-3-319-68315-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68315-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017955031
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
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Preface
Space Mission Analysis and Design, published in 1991, was the first book that com-
prehensively treated space and spacecraft system design. It is still the most compre-
hensive book on that subject. While later editions do cover some spacecraft hardware
design issues, the book’s main emphasis is on the analysis and design of space mis-
sions, rather than the design of spacecraft hardware itself.
Since 1991, interest in LEO spacecraft has increased tremendously, as has the
number of young workers in the field. With the advent of CubeSats, the number of
satellites being built and launched today has skyrocketed.
This book, Low Earth Orbiting Satellite Design, is intended to complement
Space Mission Analysis and Design. It focuses on the design of the spacecraft hard-
ware and software, and it intends to provide the new crop of space enthusiasts with
the tools they need to design hardware and software for space. At the end of the
book, a spacecraft design problem is given. The reader is encouraged to complete
the design posed by the problem with the spreadsheets and equations provided in
the book, thereby affirming all that has been learned over the course of this text.
McLean, VA, USA George Sebestyen
December 2016
v
Contents
1 The Space Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 The Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 The Earth Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Solar Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Residual Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4 Gravity and Gravity Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 The Earth and Spacecraft Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Other Space Environmental Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Satellite Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Satellite Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Satellites Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3 Satellite Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.1 Imaging Payload Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.2 The Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3.3 Image Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3.4 Adequacy of the Light Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3.5 Image Integration (Exposure) Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3.6 Pointing to a Target on the Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.7 Swath Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3.8 Spacecraft Agility and Targeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3.9 Imaging Spacecraft Attitude Sensing,
Control Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3.10 Data Quantity and Downlink Data Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.3.11 An Imaging Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4 Satellite Constellations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4.1 Present Constellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4.2 Coverage and Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.4.3 Other Satellite Constellation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
vii
viii Contents
3 Orbits and Spacecraft-Related Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.1 Acceleration of Gravity, Velocity, Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.2 Position of Spacecraft as a Function of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.3 Spacecraft Elevation, Slant Range, CPA, Ground Range . . . . . . . . 42
3.4 Pointing to a Target on the Ground From the Spacecraft. . . . . . . . . 47
3.5 Ballistic Coefficient and On-Orbit Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.6 Computing the Projection of the Sun on Planes
on the Spacecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 Electric Power Subsystem Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.1 Required Orbit Average Power (OAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.2 Battery Capacity and Battery System Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2.1 Battery Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2.2 Battery Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.3 Solar Arrays Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.4 Beta Angle Vs. Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.5 Solar Cells and Cell Laydown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.6 EPS Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5 Spacecraft Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1 Frequency Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.2 Modulation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.3 Bit Error Rate (BER) and Forward Error Correction (FEC) . . . . . . 72
5.4 Link Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.5 Spacecraft Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.5.1 The N-Turn Helix Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.5.2 Half Wave Quadrifilar Helix Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.5.3 The Turnstile Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.5.4 The Patch Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.5.5 Horn Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.5.6 Dish Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.5.7 Intersatellite Links and Steerable Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.5.8 Phased Arrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.5.9 Deployable Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.6 Increasing Throughput by Varying Bit Rate
or Switching Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.7 Geometrical Constraints on Space-to-Ground Communication . . . 84
5.8 RF Subsystem Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6 Spacecraft Digital Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.1 Computer Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.2 Computer Characteristics and Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.3 Spacecraft Computers Available Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7 Attitude Determination and Control System (ADACS) . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7.1 ADACS Performance Requirements Flowdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7.2 Description of the Most Common ADACS Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
7.2.1 Gravity Gradient Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Contents ix
7.2.2 Pitch Bias Momentum Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
7.2.3 3-Axis Zero Momentum Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
7.2.4 Magnetic Spin Stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
7.3 The ADACS Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.3.1 Reaction Wheels and Sizing the Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7.3.2 Torque Coils or Rods: Momentum Unloading . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7.3.3 Star Trackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7.3.4 GPS Receivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3.5 Other ADACS Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
7.3.6 The ADACS Computer and Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
7.3.7 ADACS Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.4 Attitude Control System Design Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.5 Integration and Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.6 On Orbit Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
8 Spacecraft Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
8.1 Functions and Software Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
8.2 Performing Each Function or Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.2.1 Initialization of the CDH Processor, Hardware,
and Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.2.2 Executing Scheduled Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
8.2.3 Stored Command Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8.2.4 Housekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
8.2.5 Management of the On-Board Electric Power System . . . . 120
8.2.6 Management of the On-Board Thermal Control System . . . 121
8.2.7 Telemetry Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8.2.8 Communications Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
8.2.9 Attitude Control System Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
8.2.10 Uploadable Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
8.2.11 Propulsion Control System Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
8.3 Software Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
9 Spacecraft Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
9.2 Requirements Flow-Down and the Structure Design Process . . . . . 128
9.3 Structure Options, Their Advantages and Disadvantages . . . . . . . . 130
9.4 Structure Materials and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
9.5 Fasteners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
9.6 Factors of Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
9.7 Structural Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
9.7.1 Structural Analysis Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
9.7.2 Structural Analysis Steps in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
9.8 Weight Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
10 Deployment Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
10.1 Deployment Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
10.1.1 Hinges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
x Contents
10.1.2 Deployable Booms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
10.1.3 Large Deployable Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
10.2 Restraint Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
10.2.1 The Explosive Bolt Cutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
10.2.2 Electric Burn Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10.2.3 Solenoid Pin Pullers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
10.2.4 Paraffin Pin Pushers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
10.2.5 Motorized Cams or Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
10.2.6 Separation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
10.2.7 Dampers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
10.2.8 Fluid Dampers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
10.2.9 Magnetic Dampers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.2.10 Constant Speed Governor Dampers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.3 Choosing the Right Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
10.4 Testing Deployables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
11 Propulsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11.1 The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11.2 Propulsion Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
11.2.1 Cold Gas Propulsion System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
11.2.2 Hydrazine Propulsion System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
11.2.3 Other Propulsion Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
11.3 Propulsion System Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
11.4 Propulsion Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11.4.1 Maneuvers for Spacecraft in a Constellation,
Maintaining and Getting to Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
11.5 Other Propulsion Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
12 Thermal Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
12.1 The Thermal Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
12.2 Heat Absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
12.3 Heat Rejection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
12.4 Heat Generated by the Spacecraft Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
12.5 Tools Available for Altering Spacecraft Thermal Performance . . 193
12.5.1 The Impact of Surface Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
12.5.2 Thermal Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
12.5.3 Conducting Heat across Screwed Plates
or Bolt Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
12.5.4 Heat Pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
12.5.5 Louvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
12.5.6 Heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
12.6 Constructing a Thermal Model of the Spacecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
12.7 A Point Design Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
12.8 Thermal and Thermal Vacuum Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
12.9 Model Correlation to Conform to Thermal Test Data . . . . . . . . . 200
12.10 Final Flight Temperature Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200