CubeSail (UltraSail)

CubeSail
Mission type Technology: solar sail propulsion
Operator NASA / University of Illinois
Start of mission
Launch date 2018 [1]
Rocket Electron
Launch site Rocket Lab LC-1
Contractor Rocket Lab

CubeSail mission is a low-cost spacecraft propulsion demonstration using two identical 1.5U CubeSat satellites to deploy a 260 m-long, 20 m2 solar sail ribbon between them. This mission is a technology demonstration for the larger UltraSail heliogyro by the University of Illinois.

Overview

Solar sail types. A heliogyro could have dozens of blades

The University of Illinois together with CU Aerospace designed this mission to demonstrate deployment and to measure the thrust on a 7.7cm × 260 m membrane (about 20 m2). The membrane will be deployed between two 1.5U CubeSats that will separate from each other in low Earth orbit. It is intended as a first step towards a larger (1,600 kg[2]) solar sail concept called UltraSail intended for interplanetary and interstellar missions.[3] This last consists of multiple CubeSail-like structures that extend kilometers long film blades to ultimately form a heliogyro. Each sail blade would be as long as 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).[2] In the UltraSail version, the spacecraft spins around a central hub to flatten the blades by centrifugal force, supported by tip-CubeSats. For the kilometre long blades' stability, this requires a rotational period of 1 – 2 hours so they overcome the solar pressure force by 3 to 5 times. Each blade is a thin polyimide film coated with ripstop.[2] The blades would provide propulsion by radiation pressure exerted by sunlight.

The heliogyro was conceived by Richard H. MacNeal in 1967 and published in 1971.[4][2]

UltraSail control

Although the heliogyro design has no mass advantage over a square sail, it remains attractive because the method of deploying a large sail is simpler than a strut-based design.[5] Blade stiffness is achieved by spinning the spacecraft (centrifugal force) with rotational axis generally pointing at the Sun. The heliogyro's attitude (orientation), and therefore thrust direction, is controlled by changing the cyclic and collective blade pitch similar to a helicopter, but in this case blade control is initiated by low-mass controllable mini-satellites at the tip of each blade.[2] Each mini-satellite would be a 5 meter long carbon-fiber structure with a total mass of 50 kg, including avionics and 20 kg propellant (catalyzed nitrous oxide (N2O) and cold gas).[2]

The maximum expected thrust force due to solar pressure for the baseline UltraSail design is 0.228 N.

Launch

CubeSail is planned to be launched on an Electron launch vehicle in 2018 from New Zealand.[1][6] It was selected in 2012 by NASA to be launched as part of the ELaNa program.[7][8]

See also

Other solar sail spacecrat
  • IKAROS, a Japanese solar sail, launched in May 2010
  • LightSail, a controlled solar sail CubeSat to launch in 2018
  • NanoSail-D2, the successor to NanoSail-D, launched in November 2010
  • Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, a solar sail CubeSat planned to launch in 2019
  • Sunjammer, a solar sail that was cancelled before launch in 2014

References

  1. 1 2 Small Satellite Design and Testing Laboratory - CubeSail. University of Illinois. 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Initial development of the CubeSail UltraSail spacecraft. R. L. Burton, J. K. Laystrom-Woodard, G. F. Benavides, D. L. Carroll, V. L. Coverstone, G. R. Swenson, A. Pukniel, A. Ghosh, and A. D. Moctezuma. 27 August 2014.
  3. ↑ NASA to Launch Two Small AE Satellites. Aerospace Illinois. 22 February 2012.
  4. ↑ MacNeal R. H., "Structural Dynamics of the Heliogyro", NASA-CR-1745A, 1971.
  5. ↑ "Design & Construction". NASA JPL. Archived from the original on 2005-03-11.
  6. ↑ Pietrobon, Steven. "New Zealand Launch Record (2009 to present)". Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  7. ↑ CubeSail]. Gunter's Space Page. 2017
  8. ↑ CubeSat Launch Initiative. NASA. Upcoming ELaNa CubeSat Launches. 2018.
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