DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit

Peter Roberts; Nicholas H. Crisp; Steve Edmondson; Sarah Haigh; Brandon Holmes; Sabrina Livadiotti; Alejandro Macario Rojas; Vitor Toshiyuki Abrao Oiko; Katherine Smith; Luciana Sinpetru; Jonathan Becedas; Rosa Maria Dominguez; Valeria Sulliotti-Linner; Simon Christensen; Thomas Kauffman Jensen; Jens Nielsen; Morten Bisgaard; Yung-An Chan; Georg H.  Herdrich; Francesco  Romano; Stefanos Fasoulas; Constantin Traub; Daniel Garcia-Alminana; Marina Garcia-Berenguer; Silvia Rodriguez-Donaire; Miquel Sureda; Dhiren Kataria; Badia Belkouchi; Alexis Conte; Simon Seminari; Rachel  Villain; Ameli  Schwalber

DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit

Peter Roberts, Nicholas H. Crisp, Steve Edmondson, Sarah Haigh, Brandon Holmes, Sabrina Livadiotti, Alejandro Macario Rojas, Vitor Toshiyuki Abrao Oiko, Katherine Smith, Luciana Sinpetru, Jonathan Becedas, Rosa Maria Dominguez, Valeria Sulliotti-Linner, Simon Christensen, Thomas Kauffman Jensen, Jens Nielsen, Morten Bisgaard, Yung-An Chan, Georg H. Herdrich, Francesco RomanoStefanos Fasoulas, Constantin Traub, Daniel Garcia-Alminana, Marina Garcia-Berenguer, Silvia Rodriguez-Donaire, Miquel Sureda, Dhiren Kataria, Badia Belkouchi, Alexis Conte, Simon Seminari, Rachel Villain, Ameli Schwalber

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Abstract

The DISCOVERER project is developing technologies to enable commercially-viable sustained-operation of satellites in very low Earth orbits for communications and remote sensing applications. Operating closer to the surface of the Earth significantly reduces latency for communications applications and improves link budgets, whilst remote sensing also benefits from improved link budgets, the ability to have higher resolution or smaller instruments, all of which provide cost benefits. In addition, all applications benefit from increased launch mass to lower altitudes, whilst end-of-life removal is ensured due to the increased atmospheric drag. However, this drag must also be minimised and compensated for. DISCOVERER is developing several critical technologies to enable commercially viable operations in at these lower altitudes including aerodynamic materials, aerodynamic attitude and orbit control methods, atmosphere breathing electric propulsion and an in-situ environment monitoring payload. The current status of these developments are summarised, along with the plans for the coming year.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 15 Oct 2020

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

Dalton Nuclear Institute

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IAC-20,C2,6,12,x59301Accepted author manuscript, 2.91 MB

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Space Systems Research Group
Smith, K. (PI), Roberts, P. (PI), Crisp, N. (PI), Mcgrath, C. (PI), Parslew, B. (CoI), Hollingsworth, P. (CoI), Utyuzhnikov, S. (CoI), Lo, K. C. J. (Researcher), Muirhead, I. (PGR student), Wijacinski, K. (PGR student), Kent, B. (PGR student), Mackintosh, J. (PGR student) & Lopez Pardo, B. (PGR student)
Project: Research
DISCOVERER: Disruptive Technologies for Very Low Earth Orbit Platforms
Roberts, P. (PI), Edmondson, S. (CoI), Haigh, S. (CoI), Smith, K. (CoI) & Crisp, N. (Researcher)
1/01/17 → 31/03/22
Project: Research

Very Low Earth Orbits (VLEO) satellites - impacts from the DISCOVERER project
Roberts, P. (Participant), Smith, K. (Participant), Crisp, N. (Participant), Edmondson, S. (Participant) & Haigh, S. (Participant)
Impact: Economic, Technological, Policy

Cite this

Roberts, P., Crisp, N. H., Edmondson, S., Haigh, S., Holmes, B., Livadiotti, S., Macario Rojas, A., Abrao Oiko, V. T., Smith, K., Sinpetru, L., Becedas, J., Dominguez, R. M., Sulliotti-Linner, V., Christensen, S., Kauffman Jensen, T., Nielsen, J., Bisgaard, M., Chan, Y.-A., Herdrich, G. H., ... Schwalber, A. (Accepted/In press). DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit. In 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.

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title = "DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit",

abstract = "The DISCOVERER project is developing technologies to enable commercially-viable sustained-operation of satellites in very low Earth orbits for communications and remote sensing applications. Operating closer to the surface of the Earth significantly reduces latency for communications applications and improves link budgets, whilst remote sensing also benefits from improved link budgets, the ability to have higher resolution or smaller instruments, all of which provide cost benefits. In addition, all applications benefit from increased launch mass to lower altitudes, whilst end-of-life removal is ensured due to the increased atmospheric drag. However, this drag must also be minimised and compensated for. DISCOVERER is developing several critical technologies to enable commercially viable operations in at these lower altitudes including aerodynamic materials, aerodynamic attitude and orbit control methods, atmosphere breathing electric propulsion and an in-situ environment monitoring payload. The current status of these developments are summarised, along with the plans for the coming year.",

author = "Peter Roberts and Crisp, {Nicholas H.} and Steve Edmondson and Sarah Haigh and Brandon Holmes and Sabrina Livadiotti and {Macario Rojas}, Alejandro and {Abrao Oiko}, {Vitor Toshiyuki} and Katherine Smith and Luciana Sinpetru and Jonathan Becedas and Dominguez, {Rosa Maria} and Valeria Sulliotti-Linner and Simon Christensen and {Kauffman Jensen}, Thomas and Jens Nielsen and Morten Bisgaard and Yung-An Chan and Herdrich, {Georg H.} and Francesco Romano and Stefanos Fasoulas and Constantin Traub and Daniel Garcia-Alminana and Marina Garcia-Berenguer and Silvia Rodriguez-Donaire and Miquel Sureda and Dhiren Kataria and Badia Belkouchi and Alexis Conte and Simon Seminari and Rachel Villain and Ameli Schwalber",

year = "2020",

month = oct,

day = "15",

language = "English",

booktitle = "71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.",

}

Roberts, P , Crisp, NH , Edmondson, S , Haigh, S, Holmes, B, Livadiotti, S, Macario Rojas, A, Abrao Oiko, VT, Smith, K, Sinpetru, L, Becedas, J, Dominguez, RM, Sulliotti-Linner, V, Christensen, S, Kauffman Jensen, T, Nielsen, J, Bisgaard, M, Chan, Y-A, Herdrich, GH, Romano, F, Fasoulas, S, Traub, C, Garcia-Alminana, D, Garcia-Berenguer, M, Rodriguez-Donaire, S, Sureda, M, Kataria, D, Belkouchi, B, Conte, A, Seminari, S, Villain, R & Schwalber, A 2020, DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit. in 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020. .

DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit. / Roberts, Peter ; Crisp, Nicholas H.; Edmondson, Steve et al.
71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020. . 2020.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit

AU - Roberts, Peter

AU - Crisp, Nicholas H.

AU - Edmondson, Steve

AU - Haigh, Sarah

AU - Holmes, Brandon

AU - Livadiotti, Sabrina

AU - Macario Rojas, Alejandro

AU - Abrao Oiko, Vitor Toshiyuki

AU - Smith, Katherine

AU - Sinpetru, Luciana

AU - Becedas, Jonathan

AU - Dominguez, Rosa Maria

AU - Sulliotti-Linner, Valeria

AU - Christensen, Simon

AU - Kauffman Jensen, Thomas

AU - Nielsen, Jens

AU - Bisgaard, Morten

AU - Chan, Yung-An

AU - Herdrich, Georg H.

AU - Romano, Francesco

AU - Fasoulas, Stefanos

AU - Traub, Constantin

AU - Garcia-Alminana, Daniel

AU - Garcia-Berenguer, Marina

AU - Rodriguez-Donaire, Silvia

AU - Sureda, Miquel

AU - Kataria, Dhiren

AU - Belkouchi, Badia

AU - Conte, Alexis

AU - Seminari, Simon

AU - Villain, Rachel

AU - Schwalber, Ameli

PY - 2020/10/15

Y1 - 2020/10/15

N2 - The DISCOVERER project is developing technologies to enable commercially-viable sustained-operation of satellites in very low Earth orbits for communications and remote sensing applications. Operating closer to the surface of the Earth significantly reduces latency for communications applications and improves link budgets, whilst remote sensing also benefits from improved link budgets, the ability to have higher resolution or smaller instruments, all of which provide cost benefits. In addition, all applications benefit from increased launch mass to lower altitudes, whilst end-of-life removal is ensured due to the increased atmospheric drag. However, this drag must also be minimised and compensated for. DISCOVERER is developing several critical technologies to enable commercially viable operations in at these lower altitudes including aerodynamic materials, aerodynamic attitude and orbit control methods, atmosphere breathing electric propulsion and an in-situ environment monitoring payload. The current status of these developments are summarised, along with the plans for the coming year.

AB - The DISCOVERER project is developing technologies to enable commercially-viable sustained-operation of satellites in very low Earth orbits for communications and remote sensing applications. Operating closer to the surface of the Earth significantly reduces latency for communications applications and improves link budgets, whilst remote sensing also benefits from improved link budgets, the ability to have higher resolution or smaller instruments, all of which provide cost benefits. In addition, all applications benefit from increased launch mass to lower altitudes, whilst end-of-life removal is ensured due to the increased atmospheric drag. However, this drag must also be minimised and compensated for. DISCOVERER is developing several critical technologies to enable commercially viable operations in at these lower altitudes including aerodynamic materials, aerodynamic attitude and orbit control methods, atmosphere breathing electric propulsion and an in-situ environment monitoring payload. The current status of these developments are summarised, along with the plans for the coming year.

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.

ER -

DISCOVERER: Developing Technologies to Enable Commercial Satellite Operations in Very Low Earth Orbit

Abstract

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Projects

Space Systems Research Group

DISCOVERER: Disruptive Technologies for Very Low Earth Orbit Platforms

Impacts

Very Low Earth Orbits (VLEO) satellites - impacts from the DISCOVERER project

Cite this