Preliminary Design of a Stand-Alone Mars CubeSat Mission Integrating DLR In-House Technologies

CubeSat missions have been deployed to cislunar space and beyond, paving the way for the next significant advancement: a dedicated CubeSat mission to explore a planet near Earth. To contribute to this goal, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has developed radiation-hardened small satellite technologies, including communications, power and onboard...

An Evaluation of Next Generation Rocket Engines for VT SSTO RLV

Observing that the majority of SSTO programs failed due to the propulsion system being far ahead of its time. Furthermore, acknowledging the that the private launch markets is increasingly dominated by partly reusable TSTOs. This thesis aims to evaluate whether next generation rocket engines make an SSTO viable within a foreseeable economical...

Optimal Trajectories in the Earth-Moon CR3BP system

The aim of this investigation is to improve the first stage of mission analysis on trajectories in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP). This will be achieved by developing a versatile tool that can optimize any transfer in the CR3BP in terms of ΔV and time of flight. Hence, the output will not be<br/>a single solution, but a...

Characterisation of Shape-Based Methods and Combination with Coasting Arcs

Low-thrust propulsion's main advantage is its efficient propellant usage. This holds for manoeuvres as well as for major orbital changes, both for LEO/MEO/GEO satellites and for interplanetary missions. In designing such missions, extensive numerical models as well as less demanding analytic first-order approximations can be used. A specific...

Propulsive abort trajectory options for a reconnaissance human Mars mission

For a human Mars exploration mission, it is required to minimize the time-of-flight of the interplanetary trajectories to mitigate the adverse effects of the radiation environment and prolonged weightlessness conditions on the health of the crew. Moreover, having a fail-safe provision to return the crew back to Earth in case of a mission abort...

Thermal Modelling & Analysis of the Deployable Space Telescope

The Deployable Space Telescope (DST) project aims at producing a competitive telescope by using segmented deployable light weighted optics which reduces launch volume and mass, and thus launch costs. Due to the criticality of heat management to the performance of the telescope, a thermal model had to be built in order to determine the expected...

Buckling Analysis and Imperfection Sensitivity Study of Scaled Launch-Vehicle Cylindrical Shells

A buckling analysis and imperfection sensitivity study of scaled launch-vehicle cylindrical shells have been executed. The emphasis is on scaled cylindrical shells due to the expensive nature of full scale launch-vehicle cylindrical shells and the size constraints of experimental testing equipment. The work as presented in this thesis is part of...

FMPoNe - Forward Model radiative transfer for Polarization Nephelometer: In low flux density planetary atmosphere

In the search for understanding the formation and evolution of a solar system, terrestrial planets &amp; any exoplanetary systems, the understanding of the evolution &amp; formation of giant planet's play a crucial role. The primary goal is to study the atmospheres, their physical &amp; chemical processes governed by gases, clouds, and hazes....

Analysis of fluid motion in cryogenic propulsion upper stage tanks during launcher ascent phase

The graduation project was conducted at the upper stage liquid propulsion department of ArianeGroup at the facilities of Airbus DS, Bremen. Based on a series of past flights of Ariane 5 launcher, the aim is to analyze the fluid motion and the pressure fluctuations in the cryogenic propulsion upper stage Liquid Hydrogen (LH...

Initial characterization of the Alternative Low Power Hybrid Ion Engine (ALPHIE) plume

This report describes the work performed on the experimental setup and initial characterization of the Alternative Low Power Hybrid Ion Engine (ALPHIE) plume performed at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Plasma Laboratory. First, a general background of plasma thrusters is presented, followed by a review of relevant plasma parameters...

Mass optimization of PocketQube structures and deployers: A method demonstrated on the DelfiPQ PocketQube mission

the aim of this thesis is to regard all aspects concerning mass optimization with respect to small satellite structures and deployers, specifically aimed at the DelfiPQ PocketQube mission.

Numerical Simulation of a Two-Phase Thermal Control System

Two-phase thermal control systems are used for payloads that require temperature stability under high and fluctuating heat output. However, the complex interaction between the two phases in a flow makes it hard to predict the performance of such a system. The goal was to develop a numerical model able to predict the transient behaviour of such a...

Development of an Improved Spherical Shaping Method for High-Inclination Trajectories

Over the past years, numerous missions for spacecraft with low-thrust propulsion have been planned to include large orbital plane changes. In order efficiently generate and evaluate orbits for such missions, use can be made of the spherical shaping method proposed by Novak. When inclinations larger than 15 degrees are present however, the error...

Thermal Modelling and Thermal Control Optimisation of the mN-μHEMPT

Airbus Friedrichshafen is working on the development of a milliNewton HEMPT (High Efficiency<br/>Multistage Plasma Thruster): an electrostatic thruster concept suitable for small satellite<br/>propulsion. An engineering model, the mN-μHEMPT, has been built and tested in vacuum,<br/>generating thrust levels in the range of 1 to 5 mN. Although the...