Conceptual Design of the FAST-D Formation Flying Spacecraft

Abstract

The paper presents the latest results in the design of FAST-D, the Dutch micro-satellite for the Dutch–Chinese FAST (Formation for Atmospheric Science and Technology demonstration) formation flying mission. Over the course of the 2.5 year mission, the two satellites, FAST-D and FAST-T, will demonstrate various new technologies and perform observations of atmospheric aerosols and seasonal variations of height profiles in the cryosphere using spectropolarimeter and altimeter payloads on both spacecraft. A conceptual design for the Dutch spacecraft, FAST-D, is presented. Special focus is laid on the design of the attitude determination and control subsystem and on the space-based computing experiments to be performed on this spacecraft. Furthermore, new results in the development of the science payloads on FAST-D, the aerosol characterisation instrument SPEX (Spectropolarimeter for Planetary Exploration) and the altimeter SILAT (Stereo Imaging Laser Altimeter), are described. For SPEX, several design changes have been made to make the instrument more compatible with the FAST mission. For SILAT, an instrument re-design for Earth missions is presented, which results in considerable mass savings as compared to the earlier design.