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A new era of space exploitation is fast approaching. CubeSats have performed a revolution in the way satellites are deployed in interplanetary missions. The exploitation of standardized dimensions and Commercial-Off-The-Shelf components has boosted their utilization by reducing mission costs and development time. The cutting down
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... EXTREMA is erected on three pillars. Pillar 1 is about autonomous navigation [8][9][10]. Pillar 2 involves autonomous guidance and control [11,12]. ...
... provide 12 relations. GivenC1,9,10,x73057 Page 5 of 16 δt0 = t0 −t0, 20 terms still remain unknown. They are δx0, δφ f = δx f , δt f , δφ b = δx b , and δt b . ...
... We introduce a random perturbation in the range of [−10 3 , 10 3 ] km on the position variables and in the range of [−10 −3 , 10 −3 ] km/s on the velocity variables, which are conservative values taken from literature on optical-based autonomous navigation systems. 46,47 Since the time of flight changes after each time the trajectory is recomputed, we adjust the number of intervals K to be used for the next optimization such that the function K(t f ) varies linearly with respect to the time of flight. In particular, we define ...
Ballistic capture corridors allow a spacecraft to be temporarily captured about a planet without any thrust firing. They represent a promising approach for future deep-space small-satellites missions, where only limited fuel can be carried onboard. In an effort to enable autonomous interplanetary CubeSats, a guidance algorithm based on convex optimization is exploited to design low-thrust minimum-fuel space trajectories which target ballistic capture corridors at Mars. An Hermite-Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto scheme with nonlinear control interpolation is used to discretize the trajectory. A variable time of flight version of the algorithm is developed and tested in closed-loop guidance simulations, where multiple reference trajectories need to be computed during a simulated interplanetary transfer. The variable time of flight algorithm is of paramount importance when closed-loop guidance is considered to avoid that no feasible solutions are found when the spacecraft is too close to the target celestial body. We show the effectiveness of the variable time of flight algorithm compared to the fixed time of flight one.
... Deepspace navigation, instead, would employ optical navigation techniques to extract the line-of-sight celestial bodies. Thanks to the knowledge of the planets' position in the Solar System, it is possible to feed triangulation schemes to reconstruct the position of the observer [11,12]. Of course, as optical data can be subject to disturbances that can vary in magnitude that overlap with the signal, filtering techniques are compulsory to build a robust system. ...
A new space era is fast approaching. In this decade, CubeSats have granted affordable access to space due to their reduced manufacturing costs compared to traditional missions. Although most of miniaturized spacecraft has thus far been deployed into near-Earth orbits, soon a multitude of CubeSats will be employed for deep-space missions as well. By conquering the interplanetary exploration, they will represent a step further in the democratization of space. The current paradigm for deep space mission is based on ground-based guidance, navigation, and control operations, and thus with human-in-the-loop operations. Although this is reliable, ground control slots will saturate soon, so hampering the current momentum in space exploration. The EXTREMA (Engineering Extremely Rare Events in Astrodynamics for Deep-Space Missions in Autonomy) project aims to challenge and revolutionize the current paradigm under which spacecraft are operated. The goal is to enable self-driving CubeSats, capable of traveling in deep space without requiring any control from ground. The project has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, a prestigious acknowledgement that funds cutting-edge research in Europe. This work gives an overview of EXTREMA, highlighting methodologies and expected results; moreover, the impact on the space sector is also discussed. EXTREMA is built up on three pillars: autonomous navigation, autonomous guidance and control, and ballistic capture. Pillar 1 envisions the development of an optical navigation technique that extracts the line of sight of the celestial bodies to infer the state of the deep-space spacecraft. Pillar 2 deals with the development of a lightweight, robust closed-loop guidance algorithm. Finally, pillar 3 addresses the definition of the corridors for ballistic capture, an extremely rare phenomenon that allows for planetary capture without any energetic effort. The flawless integration of the outcomes from the three pillars into an Orbital Simulation Hub will eventually mark the accomplishment of the EXTREMA objectives. The impact of EXTREMA is expected to be immediately transferrable to bigger, monolithic spacecraft as well, as these are usually equipped with better-performing on-board systems. Thanks to their more generous mission budgets, the impact of the technological transfer is projected to open up new opportunities for the exploitation of interplanetary resources and the exploration of the furthest corners of the Solar System.
