3Cat-3/MOTS Nanosatellite Mission for Optical Multispectral and GNSS-R Earth Observation: Concept and Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- To identify the limit of current CubeSat technology in terms of spatial resolution and required power to accomplish a multispectral optical and GNSS-R space mission.
- To evaluate the feasibility of using Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) optical equipment in space to achieve 3Cat-3/MOTS’s mission requirements.
- To acquire multispectral images from the visible to the near infrared (400 nm to 870 nm) with a spatial resolution better than 30 m and swath wider than 30 km with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) better than 30 dB in each band.
- To achieve a revisit time of less than 10 days over the Catalan territory to properly respond to territorial changes.
- To perform data fusion of the observables acquired by both payloads: multispectral imagery from the optical sensor and L-band reflectometry data from the GNSS-R soil moisture mapping at 30 m resolution.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Orbit Selection
2.2. Platform Selection
- High spatial resolution is achieved by using sensors with a small detector size and long focal lengths. This discards 1U and 2U CubeSats in favor of 3U and 6U ones. In a 3U, most of the inner space would be used for the optical sensor and the optical train, leaving little space for the GNSS-R payload (antenna and microwave receiver) and all other satellite subsystems.
- The electrical power to be supplied to the subsystems and payload of the 3Cat-3/MOTS cannot be supplied by a 3U CubeSat.
2.3. Preliminary Concepts and Simulation Configuration
2.3.1. Orbital Lifetime
2.3.2. Shielding
- Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) are high-energy charged particles that have originated outside our Solar system. Shielding is not effective to protect the platform against GCR.
- Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) are electrons, protons, and heavy ions that have originated in the Sun. Also, gradual events accelerated by Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and impulsive events from Solar flares present a risk to the satellite’s electronics.
- Solar wind: Plasma of charged particles causing disturbances in the magnetosphere.
- Radiation belts: Charged particles (protons and electrons) trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field.
2.3.3. Scheduler
- The thermal tolerance of all devices and materials on-board the satellite. The scheduler takes into consideration the energy dissipated in the form of heat by all devices on-board, as well as the Sun-eclipse periods experienced by the satellite. The heater will turn on if the temperature drops under a threshold and will not power off until the temperature reaches a certain level (5 °C and 8 °C, respectively). The batteries have the most restrictive temperature working range (between 0 °C and 45 °C); therefore, the hysteresis cycle that controls the heater prevents it from turning on/off constantly.
- The impossibility to recharge the batteries in case of a total discharge as well as the maximum number of cycles of charge and discharge under different Depth of Discharge (DoD) levels as specified by the manufacturer (e.g., [25]).
- The amount of data stored in the on-board memory. The scheduler is programed to give priority to the discharge of the data over the acquisition of new data when the amount of data stored on-board exceeds a certain limit. On the other hand, when the memory is below certain level (20% of the total storage maximum capacity) data acquisition has priority over the download of data.
3. Results
3.1. Mission Analysis
3.1.1. Payload Analysis
3.1.2. Power Subsystem and Budget
3.1.3. Thermal Budget
3.1.4. Data Handling and Budget
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Attitude Requirements | ||
Pointing knowledge at nadir | 120 | arcsec |
Pointing stability | 20 | arcsec/s |
Main Exploitation Requirements | ||
Digitalization | 12 | bits |
Data storage on board | >1 | Gb |
GSD at nadir pointing | <30 | m |
Swath at nadir pointing | >30 | km |
Main Radiometric Budget | SNR (dB) | MTF (lp/mm) |
Blue band (440–510 nm) | 35 | 25 |
Green band (520–590 nm) | 35 | 25 |
Red band (620–680 nm) | 35 | 25 |
Red edge band (690–730 nm) | 35 | 20 |
NIR band (850–890 nm) | 30 | 20 |
Extra band (if available) | 30 | 20 |
Object Name | Sub Component Object | DemiseAltitude (km) |
---|---|---|
3Cat-3/MOTS | Chasis | 73.7 |
Solar panels | 77.5 | |
ADCS subsystem | 71.4 | |
Power Subsystem | 75.9 | |
OBC | 77.3 | |
Camera | 77.1 | |
Lens | 77.3 |
Optical Sensor | |
---|---|
Sensor tech | CCD |
# pixels | 1296 × 966 |
Pixel size (m) | 3.75 |
Digitalization (bits) | 8/12 |
Power consumption | 12 VDC/8W |
Shutter exposure (ms) | min. 6.5 |
LENS | |
Focal length (mm) | 75 |
Aperture (f/#) | f/2.8 |
Angle of view | D 12 |
Weight (g) | 765 |
Diameter × length (mm) | 36 × 64.3 |
Optical parameters | Bands performance | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swath in (km): | 34.7 | ||||
Max. aperture of the lens in (mm): | 33.6 | ||||
Studied Bands: | 475 (nm) | 555 (nm) | 650 (nm) | 710 (nm) | 870 (nm) |
Aperture required for each band to satisfy Rayleigh criterion in (mm): | 8.9 | 10.4 | 12.2 | 13.3 | 16.3 |
GSD for each band after Rayleigh criterion in (m): | 26.8 | 26.78 | 26.78 | 26.78 | 26.78 |
SNR for each band in (dB): | 37.3 | 40.4 | 41.2 | 41.6 | 36.9 |
Consued Power | TA | GS | All Orbit | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Typical (W) | Max. (W) | ||||
Optical payload | - | 6 | |||
GNNS-R payload | 1.5 | 2 | |||
Battery heater | 0.5 | 2.5 | |||
ADCS | 0.5 | 2.5 | |||
S-band TX | 8 | 12 | |||
VHF TX | 2.9 | 3.1 | |||
Primary OBC | 2.3 | 2.3 | |||
Secondary OBC | 0.2 | 0.9 |
Operational Temperature (°C) | ||
---|---|---|
Device | min. | max. |
6U Chasis | −40 | 85 |
Solar panels | −40 | 85 |
EPS | −40 | 125 |
Batteries | 0 | 45 |
ADCS | −40 | 80 |
OBC | −40 | 60 |
S-band TX | −40 | 85 |
Optical payload | −40 | 60 |
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Share and Cite
Castellví, J.; Camps, A.; Corbera, J.; Alamús, R. 3Cat-3/MOTS Nanosatellite Mission for Optical Multispectral and GNSS-R Earth Observation: Concept and Analysis. Sensors 2018, 18, 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010140
Castellví J, Camps A, Corbera J, Alamús R. 3Cat-3/MOTS Nanosatellite Mission for Optical Multispectral and GNSS-R Earth Observation: Concept and Analysis. Sensors. 2018; 18(1):140. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010140
Chicago/Turabian StyleCastellví, Jordi, Adriano Camps, Jordi Corbera, and Ramon Alamús. 2018. "3Cat-3/MOTS Nanosatellite Mission for Optical Multispectral and GNSS-R Earth Observation: Concept and Analysis" Sensors 18, no. 1: 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010140
APA StyleCastellví, J., Camps, A., Corbera, J., & Alamús, R. (2018). 3Cat-3/MOTS Nanosatellite Mission for Optical Multispectral and GNSS-R Earth Observation: Concept and Analysis. Sensors, 18(1), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010140