Dynamics, Distributed Control and Autonomous Cluster Operations of Fractionated Spacecraft

Fractionated spacecraft deploy satellites' functionalities, such as computation, communication, data storage, payload operations and even power generation, onboard several modules that share those functionalities through a wireless network. With the advent of such an innovative space architecture, non-traditional attributes such as flexibility,...

Relative Navigation for Satellite Formation Flying based on Radio Frequency Metrology

To increase mission return, utilizing two or more spacecraft instead of one may sometimes be superior. This is especially true when a large spaceborne instrument needs to be created through larger and configurable baselines, such as telescopes and interferometers. However, coordinating the alignment of the individual components of such a...

Development of a Robotics-based Satellites Docking Simulator

The European Proximity Operation Simulator (EPOS) is a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system aiming, among other objectives, at emulating on-orbit docking of spacecraft for verification and validation of the docking phase. This HIL docking simulator set-up essentially consists of docking interfaces, simulating the servicing satellite called chaser...

Parachute triggering algorithms for re-entry vehicles

Most re-entry vehicles utilize a Descent and Landing System (DLS) for a safe descent through the lowest part of the atmosphere. It usually requires deployment in a certain suitable range of flight conditions, which has to be estimated by limited means of navigation. This paper presents a comparison of currently used trigger methods and...