Abstract
In this paper, the mission profile for a small satellite assumed to be launched as a piggyback payload is analyzed. In this mission, a wake, which is a high vacuum region formed behind satellites orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is used in order to isolate an object from the disturbances of the thin atmospheric stream. As preliminary research on the use of this wake as a micro gravity experimental environment, the motion of a ball which is launched by an orbiting satellite into the wake is analyzed. The ball is treated as a free-flying payload. Using the trajectory of the free-flying payload, an estimation method for both atmospheric density and the attitude angles of the satellite is proposed, analyzed, and validated with simulations. An extended Kalman filter is used to derive the estimation. Advantages and limitations of the method are discussed.
