Titre du document / Document title

6U CubeSat design for Earth observation with 6.5m GSD, five spectral bands and 14Mbps downlink

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

TSITAS S. R. ⁽¹⁾ ; KINGSTON J. ⁽¹⁾ ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

⁽¹⁾ Cranfield Space Research Centre, Aerospace Engineering Department School of Engineering, Cranfield University, Cranfield, ROYAUME-UNI

Résumé / Abstract

The design of a 6U CubeSat including spacecraft systems and imaging payload is described for an Earth observation mission. From a Sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of 600km the design enables imaging with a 6.5m GSD, an optical MTF (on axis) of >59% at half Nyquist and >35% at Nyquist, a 26km swath, 12 bit digitisation and SNR of 120-200:one in five spectral bands; blue, green, red, red edge and near infrared. Data can be downlinked at the rate of 14 Mbps to a 3.7m S band ground station. This design allows an 8kg CubeSat to perform Earth observation missions equivalent to those of current 50-150kg microsatellites, with a corresponding reduction in cost.

Revue / Journal Title

Aeronautical Journal    ISSN  0001-9240   CODEN AENJAK 

Source / Source

2010, vol. 114, n^o1161, pp. 689-697 [9 page(s) (article)] (33 ref.)

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

Royal Aeronautical Society, London, ROYAUME-UNI  (1968) (Revue)

Mots-clés anglais / English Keywords

Satellite observation

;

Earth planet

;

Artificial satellites

;

Mots-clés français / French Keywords

9540

;

Observation par satellite

;

Planète Terre

;

Satellite artificiel

;

Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords

Observación por satélite

;

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 985, 35400019142422.0040