This paper designs and analyzes the formation flying scenario of the SNIPE Nanosats mission observing the near-Earth magnetic field using 4 Nanosats. SNIPE Nanosats mission is to observe the irregular and transient physical phenomena in the ionosphere...
This paper designs and analyzes the formation flying scenario of the SNIPE Nanosats mission observing the near-Earth magnetic field using 4 Nanosats. SNIPE Nanosats mission is to observe the irregular and transient physical phenomena in the ionosphere, to study its characteristics, and to reveal the cause and principle of occurrence. Since these physical phenomena occur very irregularly and temporally on the Earth’s surface, it is important to observe the duration of the phenomenon and the spatial extent in which the phenomenon occurs. In this study, we design various scenarios that meet the formation flying requirements to achieve the scientific objectives of the SNIPE Nanosats mission. The formation flying requirement is to change the relative distance between the Nanosats over the Equator and 70° latitude to over 100 km. In this study, three formation flying scenarios are presented. We have designed a cross (+) formation scenario that consists of a cross-shaped with four Nanosats, gradually increasing the cross formation, and a tetragon (□) formation scenario, which gradually departs from the reference orbit in a diagonal direction. Finally, we designed a scenario of a cross-track formation flying, which four Nanosats are aligned in a vertical cross-track direction with respect to the reference orbit and gradually receded in cross-track direction. Among the three formation flying scenarios, the cross-track formation scenario was selected as the final scenario, and that uses J2 perturbation to reduce the ΔV required for relative orbital control. As a result, the accumulated total ΔV required for the formation flying and the fuel distribution condition between the Nanosats proposed as the design condition satisfies. There are various errors to consider when orbit control using thrust module in space. In this study, the thrust position error, thrust direction error, and thrust magnitude error are considered, and the instantaneous collision probability is analyzed using the result of the simulation including the thrust error. The result of this study suggests a relative orbit control scenario for the formation maintenance and reconfiguration, and the initial relative orbit of the four Nanosats meeting the formation requirements and thrust limitations of the SNIPE Nanosats mission. The formation flying scenario is tested by calculating the accumulated total thrust required for the four Nanosats and the instantaneous collision probability between the four Nanosats during the SNIPE Nanosats mission. If the final scenario presented in this study is applied to the SNIPE Nanosats mission, it is expected that the SNIPE Nanosats mission will be accomplished. Therefore, it is expected that the SNIPE Nanosats mission observing the near-Earth magnetic field will be able to research on the physical phenomenon that has been revealed until now.