Speaker
Description
Summary
Small satellites have become important tools for space development and utilization, which may lead to new ways of space exploration. Small satellites at low Earth orbit can be used for numerous commercial and scientific applications.
The objectives of this project are to design a small satellite able to fly one year at 250 km altitude, to optimise the pointing accuracy for synchronised solar and nadir observations, to set up the tools to manage the scientific output for this satellite, and to develop a breadboard for validation in laboratory environment.
In order to design a small satellite that is the more recurring possible, we wish to use several space characteristic instruments. The main scientific difficulties are to ensure the pointing stability and the thermal stability of the small satellite. Space is a harsh environment for optics with many physical interactions leading to potentially severe degradation of thermo-optical performances. Thermal control surfaces and payload optics are exposed to space environmental effects including contamination, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, and vacuum temperature cycling. Thus, the mastery of thermal control of a satellite represents a guarantee of success.
