Feasibility of asteroid exploration using CubeSats-ASPECT case study

Tomas Kohout; Antti Näsilä; Tuomas Tikka; Mikael Granvik; Antti Kestilä; Antti Penttilä; Janne Kuhno; Karri Muinonen; Kai Viherkanto; Esa Kallio

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2017.07.036

Feasibility of asteroid exploration using CubeSats-ASPECT case study

Tomas Kohout^*
, Antti Näsilä
, Tuomas Tikka
, Mikael Granvik
, Antti Kestilä
, Antti Penttilä
, Janne Kuhno
, Karri Muinonen
, Kai Viherkanto
, Esa Kallio

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Operation of a small CubeSat in the deep-space microgravity environment brings additional challenging factors including the increased radiation environment, the significant contribution of non-gravitational forces to the satellite orbit, or the limited communication opportunities. These factors need to be taken into account in the form of modifications to the classic CubeSat architecture. Increased radiation resistance, the semi-autonomous satellite operation, navigation, and the active orbit correction are required. Such a modified CubeSat platform can potentially deliver a high performance to mass and cost ratios. The Asteroid Spectral Imaging Mission (ASPECT) is a three unit (3U) CubeSat mission built on these principles. It is part of the AIDA (Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment) project to the binary asteroid Didymos. ASPECT is equipped with a visible to near-infrared hyperspectral imager and will deliver both technological knowledge as well as scientific data about the origin and evolution of Solar System small bodies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2239-2244
Journal	Advances in Space Research
Volume	62
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2017.07.036
Publication status	Published - 2018
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

The project is done under ESA Sys-Nova R&D Studies Competition for Innovation contract and is partly supported by VTT internal project, Academy of Finland project nos. 285432 and 299543, and ERC project no. 320773. Institute of Geology, the Czech Academy of Sciences is supported by Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports project no. RVO67985831.

Keywords

CubeSat
Didymos
Binary asteroid
Space weathering
Impact
Planetary defense
Kinetic impactor
Spectroscopy

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10.1016/j.asr.2017.07.036

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title = "Feasibility of asteroid exploration using CubeSats-ASPECT case study",

abstract = "Operation of a small CubeSat in the deep-space microgravity environment brings additional challenging factors including the increased radiation environment, the significant contribution of non-gravitational forces to the satellite orbit, or the limited communication opportunities. These factors need to be taken into account in the form of modifications to the classic CubeSat architecture. Increased radiation resistance, the semi-autonomous satellite operation, navigation, and the active orbit correction are required. Such a modified CubeSat platform can potentially deliver a high performance to mass and cost ratios. The Asteroid Spectral Imaging Mission (ASPECT) is a three unit (3U) CubeSat mission built on these principles. It is part of the AIDA (Asteroid Impact \& Deflection Assessment) project to the binary asteroid Didymos. ASPECT is equipped with a visible to near-infrared hyperspectral imager and will deliver both technological knowledge as well as scientific data about the origin and evolution of Solar System small bodies.",

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AU - Näsilä, Antti

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AU - Granvik, Mikael

AU - Kestilä, Antti

AU - Penttilä, Antti

AU - Kuhno, Janne

AU - Muinonen, Karri

AU - Viherkanto, Kai

AU - Kallio, Esa

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KW - CubeSat

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KW - Binary asteroid

KW - Space weathering

KW - Impact

KW - Planetary defense

KW - Kinetic impactor

KW - Spectroscopy

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M3 - Article

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EP - 2244

JO - Advances in Space Research

JF - Advances in Space Research

IS - 8

ER -

Feasibility of asteroid exploration using CubeSats-ASPECT case study

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