Space news #21: Propelling cubesats into the future
When the first satellites began launching a half century ago, they were quite small. Sputnik at just 58cm/23in in diameter, had a single purpose: to send a radio signal that proved it existed. Over the decades that followed the demands placed on satellites increased, which led them to grow in size. As they got bigger the cost of launching them grew too.
A revolution in the miniaturisation of satellites began at the start of the 21st century. Commonly known as cubesats, these small satellites start at 10cm cubed in size, weighing approximately 1kg, or a little over half a pound. Manufactured from off-the-shelf parts, cubesats are cheap enough that multiple copies can be launched to reduce the risk of failure.
Getting cubesats into space usually involves packing them into spare capacity when launching a larger, conventional satellite. With the rapidly increasing capabilities of modern mini-satellites, demand for cubesat launch capacity is rising. During the week NASA put out a request for innovative methods to get cubesats into space cheaply, without tacking them on to an existing launch. NASA might want to speak to DARPA, who will soon be trialling launching small satellites from the belly of a fighter jet.
Once in orbit, it would useful to be able to move cubesats around. Adding a propulsion system and fuel can drastically increase the weight and cost, which defeats the purpose of using a small, cheap satellite. The latest flight of the US Airforce’s normally secretive X-37B is carrying 10 cubesats, one of which is sporting a solar sail. The sail is 32 sq. meters/344 sq. feet in size, which would be enough for it to manoeuvre in orbit. Unfortunately the X-37B isn’t going to be high enough that the satellite can escape atmospheric drag, so it’s expected that it will soon fall back to Earth.
A demonstration of laser propulsion
Another promising alternative for micro-satellite propulsion was announced during the week. Also using light, Y.K. Bae Corporation revealed a Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) was successfully able to accelerate a half kilo/1 lb object along a frictionless track. The idea is that an intense laser beam can be directed onto a mirror on a micro-satellite, which could be used to propel it. The equipment to produce the laser is too large to be included on the satellite, so the beam would have to come from an external source. The benefit of this system is that there is no fuel needed on the micro-satellite. Perhaps the only extra requirements would be a couple of mirrors and a control system to move. The other requirement is a steady aim for whoever is shooting the laser.
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Spaceflight
- NASA Selects Advanced Space Technology Concepts
- High-tech Analysis of Orion Heat Shield Underway
- Potentially Revolutionary Mission Heading for 2016 Launch
- Russia loses Mexican satellite after rocket failure
- Performance degradation of a helicon plasma thruster
- Russia probes space failures after rocket falls to Earth
- Report: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket certified to fly NASA missions
- NASA Seeks New Launching Methods for Micro-Satellites
- Does NASA Have a Robotics Strategy?
- Boeing’s Private Space Taxi Astronaut Escape System
- X-37B Space Plane Launches Mystery Mission This Week
- Photonic Laser Thruster Propels Simulated Spacecraft
- Russia restarts spacecraft after embarrassing failures
- Spacecoach on the Stage
- ESA Works Up A Space Fever
- What Will the X-37B Military Space Plane Do?
- Tiny Solar Sail ‘Cubesat’ Launching with X-37B
- Journey to Space in a Vacuum Chamber
- Russian deputy PM attacks space industry with reform bill
- Happy birthday, Estrack
- Russia Discloses Corruption in Space Industry Company
The Solar System
- Patent on Transfiguring Martian Atmosphere
- Quick Detour by NASA Mars Rover Checks Ancient Valley
- Using Satellites To Sense How Much the Earth Moved in Nepal
- NASA Pluto Probe Begins Search for New Moons, Rings
- Jupiter, Ganymede, Great Red Spot
- ExoMars 2016 Undergoes Vibration Testing
- Auroras on Mars
- Mercury’s core dynamo present early in planet’s history
- Asteroid Distant ‘Flyby’ Thursday
- Mystery Methane on Mars: The Saga Continues
- Why Colonize Mars? Sci-Fi Authors Weigh In
- Kepler Observes Neptune Dance with Its Moons
- Tracking Japans asteroid impact mission
- Ares 3 Landing Site: The Martian Revisited
- Asteroid Deflection Test Planned for 2022
- US Military Contractor Develops to Hover Over Venus
- Technique for finding signs of life on the Red Planet
- What Makes Mars Sunsets Different from Earths?
- NASA Seeks Additional Information for Asteroid Redirect
- On Comet, ‘Ballerina’ Rocks Perform Balancing Act
- Innovative Idea to Land Probes on Red Planet
- NASA Pluto Probe May Carry Crowdsourced Message to Aliens
- The Extreme Life of Chile’s Atacama Desert
- Sunset at Mars’ Gusev Crater
- Rosetta spots balancing rock on Comet 67P
- Exploring the ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ Crater
- A Cliff Looming on Comet 67P
Exoplanets
- ‘Chaotic Planets’ Could Complicate Search for Alien Life
- Doppler Worlds and M-Dwarf Planets
- Ether Compounds Could Work like DNA On Oily Worlds
- Exoplanet Forecast: Cloudy Morning. Outlook: Horrific Heat
- Circular orbits for small extrasolar planets
- New Japan volcano island ‘natural lab’ for life
- Exoplanets: The Hunt for Circular Orbits
- Evolution of Complex Life
The Universe
- Cause of Galactic Death: Strangulation
- Powerful New Radio Telescope Array Searches the Entire Sky 24/7
- Black Holes Might Make Dark Matter Shine
- NASA: “X-Rays Light Up Sun-Like Coronas of Black Holes”
- Mystery of the Missing Antimatter
- Proto Star Cluster a Cosmic ‘Dinosaur Egg’ Ready to Hatch
- Rare Quasar Quartet Is the First of Its Kind Ever Seen
- Scientists at Keck Discover the Fluffiest Galaxies
- Hubble Observes Migration Routes of Relic Stars in Ancient Clusters
- Supermassive Black-Hole Quartet Discovered
- Probing the secrets of the universe inside a metal box
- Andromeda and Milky Way Might Collide Sooner Than We Think
- Our 30-Light-Year Voyage Through the Local Interstellar Cloud
- Hubble Catches a Stellar Exodus in Action
- Subaru Telescope Observers Superflare Stars
- An Extremely Young Stellar Clump in the Distant Universe
- Magnetar Near Supermassive Black Hole Delivers Surprises
- Fresh Theories About Dark Matter
- Water was plentiful in the early universe
- Cause of galactic death: Strangulation
- Hubble Catches Stellar Exodus in Action
- Scientists at Keck Discover the Fluffiest Galaxies
Everything else