TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, SPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN
Online ISSN : 1347-3840
ISSN-L : 1347-3840
f) On-Orbit and Ground Support Systems
The Study of a Super Low Altitude Satellite
Atsushi NODAMasanori HOMMAMasayoshi UTASHIMA
著者情報
キーワード: Ion Engine, Satellite, Orbit
ジャーナル フリー

2009 年 7 巻 ists26 号 p. Pf_17-Pf_22

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This paper reports the result of a study for super low altitude satellite. The altitude of this satellite's orbit is lower than ever. The altitude of a conventional earth observing satellite is generally around from 600km to 900km. The lowest altitude of earth observing satellite launched in Japan was 350km; the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). By comparison, the satellite reported in this paper is much lower than that and it is planned to orbit below 200km. Furthermore, the duration of the flight planned is more than two years. Any satellite in the world has not achieved to keep such a low altitude that long term. The satellite in such a low orbit drops quickly because of the strong air drag. Our satellite will cancel the air drag effect by ion engine thrust. To realize this idea, a drag-free system will be applied. This usually leads a complicated and expensive satellite system. We, however, succeeded in finding a robust control law for a simple system even under the unpredictable change of air drag. When the altitude of the satellite is lowered successfully, the spatial resolution of an optical sensor can be highly improved. If a SAR is equipped with the satellite, it enables the drastic reduction of electric power consumption and the fabulous spatial resolution improvement at the same time.

著者関連情報
© 2009 The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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