HERA CubeSat Phase A study
Programme
GSTP
Programme Reference
GT17-125SP
Prime Contractor
SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF SPACE PHYSICS
Start Date
End Date
Status
Closed
Country
Sweden
Objectives
The objective of the activity is to perform a phase A study of a 6U cubesat payload for the HERA mission in order to define a mission architecture and system design concept, and the necessary system specifications up to PRR level.
Description
The purpose of the activity is to define a payload system that complements the HERA planetary defence demonstration mission to a binary asteroid compatible with a launch in 2023. This mission concept builds on extensive work done by the Agency and European industry and academia, in particular, to enable the use of cubesats in deep space missions (ref. ESA GSP SysNova AO#3 in 2014).
The ;activity will investigate concepts which take advantage of exploiting distributed networked CubeSat systems operated through the mother ship by means of Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) technologies, making use of innovative approaches on autonomy, navigation and efficient use of the TTamp C link, while providing a relevant contribution to the asteroid research and mitigation assessment objectives of the mission (e.g. asteroid binary system dynamics and composition, impact crater characterisation, plume observation...).
The target is to have reached a common mission and system architecture for HERA, and have finalized the major cubesat system trade-offs and confirmed feasibility.
Previous studies have shown significant added value as payload suites for the cubesat, although final selection of the suitable candidate will be also conditional to optional programme funding support, are the following:
- VIS-NIR-SWIR imaging and spectrometry for surface composition characterisation, space weathering, shock metamorphism and plume observation
- Radioscience for gravity field and impact changes characterisation
- Magnetometers for magnetic field characterisation
- Video emission spectrometer and volatile composition analyser for bulk chemical composition, presence of volatiles and plume characterisation
- Nephelometer for dust characterisation
- Accelerometers, gyroscopes and geophones for surface and sub-surface geophysical properties and seismology
The activities that will be carried out in this activity include:
- Identification, trade-off and selection of payloads suitable for the mission
- Definition of mission requirements, operational concept and constraints
- Definition of mission design based on mission analysis and mission requirements
- Definition of system requirements deriving from the mission requirements and mission design/analysis, including requirements for the accommodation and operation of the propulsion system and payload(s)
- Trade-off of mission/system design option, select a baseline, and confirm the technical feasibility
- Definition of the associated system development, integration and verification plan for the follow-on phases
- Definition of the programmatic baseline of the project detailing associated costs, schedule and risks.
At the end of the acvtivity, the PRR package will be prepared covering the mission, the cubesat system and its subsystems, and the cubesat and payload operations during all phase of the mission. In addition, a preliminary development plan and industrial contributions will be defined.
Application Domain
Generic Technologies
Technology Domain
OTHERS
Competence Domain
3-Avionic Systems
Keywords
46-HERA
Initial TRL
TRL N/A
Target TRL
TRL N/A
Achieved TRL
TRL N/A