CubeSail
CubeSail
Planned solar sail spacecraft
CubeSail is a proposed nanosatellite project by the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) in England. The spacecraft is to be a 3U CubeSat propelled by a 25 m² solar sail. The project is financed and technically supported by aerospace manufacturers Astrium and Surrey Satellite Technology.
| Mission type | Technology |
|---|---|
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | 1 year (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 3U CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | Surrey Satellite Technology / Astrium |
| BOL mass | 3 kg (6.6 lb)[1] |
| Dimensions | Sail: 5 m × 5 m Bus: 10 cm x 10 cm x 34 cm |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | TBD |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
The first successful solar sail spacecraft was the Japanese IKAROS mission, launched on 21 May 2010.[2][3][4]
The project is further developing technologies first tested on their STRaND-1 CubeSat, launched in February 2013.[5] CubeSail will deploy a 25 m2 solar sail, which will be used to demonstrate the propulsive effect of solar radiation pressure and the de-orbiting capabilities of the sail as a drag augmentation device.[6][7]
Attitude control
CubeSail will be a three-axis stabilised solar sail satellite.[5] Attitude control (orientation) is necessary because the orientation of the sail relative to the Sun direction will determine the propulsion force. Full three-axis attitude control will be performed by means of a centre of mass/centre of pressure offset technique, complemented by three magnetorquers and a reaction wheel.[5] Attitude control can be enhanced by using the solar radiation pressure force on the sail to generate rotation torques.[8] The radiation pressure can also be used to induce a change of altitude as well as orbital inclination.[8]
The spacecraft will be deployed in a low Earth orbit (800 km altitude) on a Sun-synchronous orbit.[8]
Configuration
The CubeSail nanosatellite is a CubeSat of the 3U format.[9] The satellite bus occupies approximately 1U, and the remaining 2U house the two-axis translation stage and sail-deployment subsystem.[9]
The objectives of the CubeSail mission are to demonstrate the concept of solar sail propulsion of a 3-axis stabilised 25 m2 solar sail for one year while in low Earth orbit; and to demonstrate the use of gossamer structures (very light gauze-like fabric) as a drag augmentation device for satellite de-orbiting.[5]
- CubeSail (UltraSail) – US spacecraft
- IKAROS – First interplanetary solar sail spacecraft
- LightSail – LEO solar sailing demo project
- NanoSail-D2 – Satellite designed to test concept of solar sails
- Near-Earth Asteroid Scout – Solar sail spacecraft
- Sunjammer (spacecraft) – NASA mission intended to demonstrate a solar sail constructed by LGarde
- CubeSail: A low cost CubeSat based solar sail demonstration mission. V. Lappas, et al. Advances in Space Research. vol 48, issue, 11. 1 December 2011.pp: 1890-1901. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2011.05.033
- Stephen Clark (20 May 2010). "H-2A Launch Report – Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- Samantha Harvey (21 May 2010). "Solar System Exploration: Missions: By Target: Venus: Future: Akatsuki". NASA. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- "Launch Day of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 17(H-IIA F17)". JAXA. 3 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- "CUBESAIL". University of Surrey. Surrey Space Center, UK. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- Surrey Space Centre – UK CubeSail Satellite. AMSAT-UK. 11 July 2014.
- CubeSail Archived 2019-07-06 at the Wayback Machine. University of Surrey. Accessed on 6 July 2019.
- CubeSail - Sailing Archived 2017-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. University of Surrey, UK
- CubeSail - Satellite Archived 2017-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. University of Surrey, UK
- CubeSail web site Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine