Nowadays, small satellites have acquired a big share of the satellite launch market, more than ever before. At first, launch providers started to provide access to space to these small satellites by reserving secondary payload slots on launcher already carrying bigger payloads, since these small manufacturers could not afford a dedicated launch by themselves. This approach changed with the introduction of the concept of “rideshare missions”, a dedicated mission to a multitude of small payloads that become all primary payloads with respect than the previous approach. On Avio’s side, this concept has been developed by introducing the SSMS (“Small Spacecraft Mission Service”) system on its VV16 flight on September 2, 2020 while SpaceX with its “Transporter 1” mission in 2021 provided a similar system for dedicated rideshare missions. The SSMS dispenser mission preliminary design presented in this paper aims at demonstrating the system flexibility on the first step of the mission service, when a customer approaches the company. At first, mission design consists of a first step providing an optimal constrained trajectory for the dedicated mission by analyzing the ascent flight path on a 3DOF simulator, satisfying visibility needs from ground, launcher structural needs and payload needs during the ascent. Payload needs can include max thermal stresses, pointing needs, separation needs in terms of position with respect to the sun or position along the orbit or with respect to a specific ground station if necessary. The output of the mission design activity is a complete trajectory from lift-off to disposal maneuver, that is taken as input for a 6DOF simulation for the mission design phase. After the end of the mission design phase, a detailed in orbit collision avoidance activity is carried out to avoid payload collision after deployment on perturbed cases. In this paper, the 3DOF design trajectory will be analyzed by considering a high number of payloads and the maximum AVUM flight ignitions to present the maximum launcher’s flexibility achievable. At the end, a summary of the IOC activity will be presented to show the system’s reliability to customers.
VEGA-C preliminary maximum flexibility mission analysis for small spacecraft service dedicated rideshare mission
Small Satellites Systems and Services Symposium (4S 2024) ; 2024 ; Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Proc. SPIE ; 13546
20.03.2025
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
VEGA-C guidance and 6 DOF mission design definition for small spacecraft rideshare mission
SPIE | 2025
|SSMS (SMALL SPACECRAFT MISSION SERVICE) DISPENSER
TIBKAT | 2020
|