Acta Asrronoutica, Vol. 39, No. 9-12, pp.

799-808, 1996
01997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
PII:SOO94-5765(97)00063-5
0149-1970/96 $17.00+0.00

NANOSATELLITES AND MICRO SYSTEMS

TECHNOLOGY - CAPABILITIES,
LIMITATIONS AND APPLICATIONS
Sven Miincheberg, Manfred Krischke, Norbert Lemke

Kayser-Threde GmbH, Wolfratshauser StraBe 48, 8 1379 Munich, Germany

Phone +49 (89) 724950, Fax +49 (89) 72495-29 1
E-Mail: ms@kayser-threde.de

ABSTRACT
In recent years Micro Systems Technology (MST) was introduced to manufacture
miniaturized components for satellite subsystems, like small sensors, valves, micromo-
tars, antennas and many more. These components can be used to build a new class of
satellites weighing considerably less than 10 kg, with the capabilities comparable to
present microsatellites. With the possibility of cheap mass production of such nanosat-
ellites new applications become possible. However, the construction of very small sat-
ellites is connected with problems concerning launch, orbit control and, deorbiting.
Furthermore the reduction of size creates certain limits for power consumption, data
rates and optical resolutions which have to be carefully considered.
01997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
ogy (MST) has made great advances in
1 INTRODUCTION recent years and will be used exten-
In recent years a new way of thinking in sively for future nanosatellite manufac-
terms of satellite design has emerged. turing.
Instead of large, complex and also ex- This paper summarizes the findings
pensive space systems there is a ten- of an ESA study on unconventional
dency towards smaller, simpler units. satellite design conducted by Kayser-
Microsatellites are increasingly intro- Threde in 1995 [ 11.
duced for civil and commercial satellite
2 MST COMPONENTS FOR
systems. The purpose of miniaturization
SATELLITE SUBSYSTEMS
is the reduction of cost: satellite cost as
well as launch cost. Therefore a further MST uses well-known processes from
miniaturization beyond the microsatel- microelectronics like material deposi-
lite scale is expected to happen and will tion, photo lithography and etching to
lead to the construction of nanosatel- fabricate structures in the micrometre
lites. By definition, those are satellites range. These techniques permit a very
lighter than 10 kg and with a size of less high quality of reproduction, the
than 15 cm. miniaturization of components and the
To reduce the size of subsystems to a extreme reduction of cost per part.
fraction of todays values it is necessary The use of MST in sensor applica-
to introduce new methods of manufac- tions is quite advanced and microtech-
turing. The production of very small nology components are already com-
structures with micro systems technol- mercially available. MST is already
799
800 Small Satellites for Earth Observation
used for the mass production of sensors
in the automotive industry. They in-
clude acceleration sensors for airbag
release as well as temperature and pres-
sure sensors for engine monitoring and
control.
Components for space applications,
which are available or in development
right now, are acceleration sensors, rate
gyros, magnetometers, sun sensors and
star sensors. GPS receivers are also
available as small chip sets. With these
sensors it seems possible in the near
future to integrate a complete attitude
and orbit determination system on a
single board (Fig. 1). This standardized
unit could be used for different types of
satellites since it can be adapted to mis-
sion requirements through the addition
of external sensors connected through
standard interfaces.
Other MST components that are cur-
rently in development or already in pro-
duction include valves, micromotors,
antennas, waveguides, microoptical
systems, heat pipes and microinstru-
ments. However, these systems have not
entered the stage of commercial mass
production yet. A complete list of MST
Conventional Design
Fig. 1: Integrated Navigation System using MST
components cannot be given here; col-
lections can be found in [2], [3] and [4].
3 PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS
The downscaling of satellites is limited
by fundamental physical laws which
cannot be bypassed. These limits are
affecting the power generation, thermal
control, communications and optical
systems of a nanosatellite.
3.1 Power Generation
It seems unlikely, that other power
sources than photovoltaic solar genera-
tors will be used on nanosatellites. Their
design shall be simple, so deployable
solar arrays, which require complicated
mechanisms for pointing will not be
used.
For a body-mounted solar array the
amount of power that can be produced
is limited by the surface area of the
satellite. A very small satellite thus will
work on a very small power level.
Therefore the development of solar cells
with higher efficiencies has a high pri-
ority for the realization of future nano-
satellite projects. For the next years ef-
ficiencies as high as 40 % were pre-
MST Design
 Small Satellites for Earth Observation
Fig. 2: Average available Power as a Function of Cell Efficiency
dieted. This shall be achievable through
the use of Multi Bandgap Solar Cells
(MBSC) with concentrator optics in-
stead of the cover glass [5].
Fig. 2 shows the average available
power for different cell efficiencies and
satellite sizes. The calculation assumes
a cube-shaped satellite and considered
design losses, degradation losses and a
40 % eclipse time in LEO. The figure
indicates that the upper limit for a nano-
satellite can be set at 6 W.
3.2 Thermal Control
The question must be answered if a
nanosatellite with a very small surface
is able to get rid of excess thermal en-
ergy. With the downscaling of compo-
nents usually the power density in-
creases, which can create problems for
thermal control.
However, for a nanosatellite the gen-
erated (and then dissipated) power from
the solar arrays and the absorbed solar
energy is directly proportional to the
surface area and therefore decreases
with size at the same rate as the radiator
area. Thus the ratio between absorbed
801
and Satellite Size
and emitted power remains constant,
which means that the maximum and
minimum equilibrium temperatures are
identical for different sizes.
Fig. 3 shows the temperatures that
were calculated in a single-node-
simulation. For a multi-node simulation
it must be noted that the distances be-
tween the heat sources and the radiating
surfaces are small, which enhances the
heat transport. Therefore the tempera-
tures should not be a threat to any sub-
systems and passive measures like
coatings or insulation should be suffi-
cient for the thermal control of the sat-
ellite.
3.3 Communications
To choose a frequency band for the
communication with nanosatellites sev-
eral factors have to be considered.
1. Antenna size is usually a function
of the used frequency and the desired
antenna gain. A satellite size of 15 cm
does not prohibit any frequencies unless
very narrow spot beams are necessary.
2. Link budget calculations were
done for different frequencies from 150
802 Small Satellites for Earth Observation
10

Heat Capacity: 880

J/kgK (Alummum)

:Power DIsslpatlon:
,5 cm. 0.7 W
7.5 cm: 1.6 W
~ lOcm:2.8W

-40
Time [min]

Fig. 3: Temperatures of a Nanosatellite during one complete Orbit

MHz to 30 GHz. They showed that the is very difficult.

data rates that can be transmitted are Regarding these factors, it seems that
roughly equal for all bands. Fig. 4 lower frequencies like the 2-m and 70-
shows an example calculation of data cm bands are best suited for the use on
rates for a 400 MHz satellite downlink nanosatellites. For mobile applications-
for a mobile application. data rates up to 40 kbps can be achieved
3. Additional factors that must be from a 400-km-LEO with error correc-
taken into account are Doppler-shift, tion coding, which results in an effec-
atmospheric attenuation and amplifier tive data rate of 20 kbps. With a large
efficiency, which all get worse for ground station antenna (0 5 m) data
higher frequencies. Running an Ka- rates up to 1.6 Mbps (800 kbps effec-
Band amplifier at very low power levels tive) are possible.

o,s,anceSateMe to ~~2000-~
km for 400 km hetght. 3000 km for 800 km

R?qu,red Eb/No (BPSK. BER 10-s):

w,th Error CC: 4.5 dB. w/o Error CC 10 dB

Radiated Power [WI

--- ___- _._ ______~ ~
-a-with Error Conecbon Ccdlng 400 km -t-w/o Error Conecbon Cc&g 400 km
L_ ~___Q w,th Error Conactlon Cc&n1800 km
__.-.___-- e W/O Error Conect~on Cc&g 800 km

Fig. 4: Data Rates with Cross-Dipoles as Satellite and Ground Station Antennas

3.4 ODtical Svstems
The resolution of optical instruments is
limited by diffraction, the focal length
and the size of the aperture. The limits
imposed by diffraction are the least se-
vere and allow resolutions down to a
few metres. The limit set by the maxi-
mum focal length is higher, approxi-
mately 30 m when the maximum focal
length is 20 cm for a folded telescope.
The limit imposed by aperture size is
roughly the same for apertures of 10 cm
and less. Fig. 5 shows the resolution as
a function of the orbit height.
4 APPLICATIONS
It was tried to identify promising nano-
satellite missions which could either
replace existing systems or lead to
complete new applications not possible
before. These missions should not only
be compatible with the limitations men-
tioned above, they should also exploit
the unique features of nanosatellites, i.e.
fast and cheap mass production.
4.1 Position Location
A position location system
/FocalLenglhof to-25
lPixel Sire of the CC0 20 pm
___
Fig. 5: Optical Resolution as a Function of Altitude and Focal Length
Small Satellites for Earth Observation 803
Doppler measurements like the TRAN-
SIT system of the U.S. Navy could be
implemented on a nanosatellite basis.
The disadvantages of the TRANSIT
system (10 minutes needed for position
location, only one fix in two hours,
lower accuracy for moving receivers;
[6] [7]) could be overcome with a large
fleet of satellites in LEO. 210 satellites
with an orbit height of 1000 km would
be required to provide three visible
satellites at any given time with an ele-
vation of at least 15. The data rate and
the technical complexity could be low.
TRANSIT satellites built more than 20
years ago weighed around 50 kg and
transmitted only 50 bits/second.
Due to the introduction of enhanced
models of the Earths gravitational field
and the simultaneous observation of
multiple satellites, the accuracy of the
position determination should be better
than with TRANSIT. TRANSIT already
achieved an accuracy of 15-25 m (RMS)
with a dual frequency receiver and 80-
100 m with a single frequency receiver
which is equal or better than todays
GPS with selective availability.
based on
cm 1
.i x
804 Small Satellites for Earth Observation
4.2 Earth Observation
If Earth observation is done with a
nanosatellite it is necessary to reduce
the amount of data that has to be
transmitted because the data rates are
limited as mentioned above. The satel-
lite must possess the ability for on-
board-processing of the image informa-
tion to allow the detection of certain
events. Today the interpretation of sat-
ellite images still requires the presence
of a human operator, but the develop-
ment of expert systems with artificial
intelligence maybe can remove that
need. Possible applications are: Detec-
tion of forest fires (IR), rocket launches
(IR), pollution (visible, UV, IR) and the
determination of ice-water boundaries
(near IR).
A high revisiting frequency essential
for early warning could be achieved
through the launch of a large fleet of
nanosatellites. A simulation showed,
that an Earth observation system in a
600-km polar orbit providing a revisit-
ing frequency of 90 minutes and a
ground resolution of 75 m would re-
quire 192 satellites.
4.3 Atmosnheric Sounding
Atmospheric research could be done in
two different ways. In situ, with satel-
lites in very low orbits or through at-
mospheric limb-sounding. In situ meas-
urements could be taken with low-
orbiting satellites with only a short life-
time. If production and launch cost are
sufficiently low such satellites could be
launched in short intervals.
Atmospheric limb-sounding is also
possible through the observation of ris-
ing and setting GPS satellites [8] [9].
Through Doppler-shift measurements of
the radio signals, which are bent by the
variable refractivity of the air in differ-
ent heights, it is possible to calculate the
temperature of the atmosphere. With a
large fleet of nanosatellites temperature
measurements could be taken at the
same time for a huge area or even the
entire atmosphere.
4.4 Data Collection from Automatic
Stations
The satellite queries autonomous sensor
packages (e.g. on buoys) carrying in-
struments, which collect environmental
data, like temperature, wind speed and
direction, wavelength and waveheight,
current speed and direction. MST would
be used extensively for a large number
of sensor packages and less for the
space segment. To collect the data sev-
eral micro or mini satellites would be
sufficient, which can handle higher data
rates.
4.5 &ace Science
Large clusters of nanosatellites could be
used to measure radiation, space debris,
magnetic fields and the concentration of
atomic oxygen in space. Such clusters
would allow the simultaneous data re-
cording over large areas. Also nano-
satellites could operate in areas which
are dangerous for satellites like the Van-
Allen-Belts, assuming these satellites
can be replaced fast and cheap.
Research satellites could be used
near the Earth or in interplanetary space,
although the last option would be tech-
nically demanding due to low transmit-
ting power. A larger relay satellite
which collects data from the nanosatel-
lite fleet and transmits it to Earth could
be a solution. Here measurements of the
solar wind, cosmic radiation or the suns
magnetic field could be taken.
4.6 Insnector Snacecraft / Black Box
A nanosatellite could be attached to a
larger spacecraft in GE0 or LEO. The
nanosatellite would be independent and
would collect telemetry data of the host
 Small Satellites for Earth Observation 805

spacecraft. In case of an emergency, e.g. 5 LARGE NETWORKS

the loss of contact with the host satel- It was already mentioned that besides its
lite, this ,,Black Box could send the
small size the unique feature of a nano-
collected telemetry, e.g. the last 10
satellite shall be the fast and cheap mass
minutes before failure, to the ground
production. Together with an inexpen-
helping the operators with fault detec- sive launcher this allows the installation
tion. of large satellite networks with several
An advanced version of the Black
hundred satellites. Therefore problems
Box would be the Inspector [2]. After concerning control and end-of-life dis-
the transmission of the collected teleme-
posal must be addressed.
try the Inspector would separate and
begin an inspection of the host space- 5.1 Network Control
craft with a camera. The picture trans-
Two different operation modes are pos-
mission would be slow (low data rate
sible for large nanosatellite networks.
problem) unless the nanosatellite could
The traditional approach requires the
use a neighbouring satellite as a relay
ability of the satellite to control its orbit
(only in GEO). Perhaps a Black Box
and to compensate for perturbations.
could become a standard (like in aero-
This leads to an adapted system with a
planes) and a demand by insurance
minimum number of satellites which
companies.
hold their positions respective to each
other.
4.7 Entertainment (PS - the Personal
Another possibility is to launch a
Satellite)
very large number of satellites without
If the manufacturing and launch cost of
any kind of orbit control. The required
nanosatellites are low enough, every
coverage is achieved by the oversizing
private person or company could buy
of the system. When the performance is
and operate one for personal communi-
degrading, new satellites are injected
cations or for hobby and entertainment.
into the network. This would require the
Such a satellite could be used for store-
availability of a cheap launcher, perhaps
and-forward communications by private
with unconventional technology like
persons or companies to reach travelling
rail-guns. Such an uncontrolled system
employees. There is a substantial de-
could work in very low altitudes to
mand for personal mobile communica-
achieve high optical resolution or high
tions as the boom for hand-held tele-
data rates.
phones proves.
The user could buy any number of 5.2 Deorbiting
satellites depending on the number of
Before the Iaunch of such large net-
daily contacts he needs. Radio amateurs
works, a concept must be developed for
could communicate through intersatel-
the end-of-life disposal to prevent the
lite links. Pictures of the Earth and
large amount of space debris created
space could be taken with CCD cam-
otherwise. If a nanosatellite network
eras. There sure is a market potential for
operates in very low orbits, as men-
this application if the price would be
tioned above, then the atmospheric drag
low enough. However, the resulting
will cause a fast re-entry.
space debris or scarce radio spectrum
For higher orbits some kind of
could prohibit this application.
deorbiting mechanism is required. If the
deorbiting shall be done with cold gas
806 Small Satellites for Earth Observation

or hydrazine thrusters then the needed communications. For missions with

propellant mass would become very higher complexities additional modules
large. Electric propulsion could be a are necessary. Those are:
solution but still has to deal with techni-
Navigation: determines the position
cal problems. Furthermore, the low
and attitude of the satellite, consists
thrust levels would cause a very long
of a GPS receiver and different sen-
time for re-entry.
sors
An alternative would be to develop a
Attitude Control: contains reaction
system which reduces the delta v for
wheels and magnetic torquers for
deorbiting, e.g. an inflatable balloon. At
the pointing of the satellite
the end of the satellites lifetime it
Payload: can include a telescope for
would use a gas cartridge to inflate a
optical observations, scientific in-
folded balloon, which requires only a
struments for data collection or ad-
small mass of gas in the vacuum of
ditional electronics to support the
space. The balloon would decrease the
core module in communication or
satellites ballistic factor by a large
navigation missions
amount and accelerate the decay of the
Propulsion: holds tanks and
satellite. Simulations showed, that with
thrusters for orbit control
a l-m-balloon the decay time can be
reduced by a factor of 30. The subsystem modules are shown in
Figure 6. However, the sizes of compo-
6 DESIGN nents are only estimates. The tank pro-
vides the capacity for a 20 m/s delta v
6.1 General for a 3 kg-satellite using a catalytic hy-
A modular design is desirable to sim- drazine thruster. The batteries are
plify production, assembly and testing. nickel-hydrogen batteries with a capac-
To create such a modular system eight ity of 5.3 Wh for eclipse power supply.
autonomous subsystem modules were Also no mechanism for the separation
designed, which can be combined freely from the launcher is included.
to build satellites with different com-
plexity and to adapt them to the mission 6.2 Design of the Modules
requirements. However, this is just a All modules are box-shaped with an
first draft and no finished design by identical basal surface. The core, HF
Kayser-Threde. and navigation modules consist of a
circuit board holding the electronics
. Core Module: responsible for data
which is attached to a rectangular metal
handling, processing and storage,
frame (e.g. aluminium). The other
housekeeping and communications
modules use an open metal box in
. HF Module: holds the modulators,
which the circuit boards and other parts
filters, amplifiers and antennas
can be installed. The frames and boxes
. Power Modules (2): consists of the
serve different functions such as a
solar arrays, batteries and electron-
mounting area for components, protec-
ics for power control and condition-
tion from micrometeors and space de-
ing
bris, radiation shielding and heat trans-
These three modules are part of every fer.
satellite. A satellite which consists only
of these modules can be used for simple
missions e.g. for store-and-forward
 Small Satellites for Earth Observation 807

t Y

\
< x

Fig. 6: Nanosatellite with all eight Subsystem Modules

cost of subsystems. The high density

6.3 Assemblv of integration could lead to the pro-
The assembly of the satellite is very duction of a new kind of satellites.
easy. The modules are stacked on top of These nanosatellites would weigh
each other, centred with straight pins less than 10 kg.
and held together by four countersunk = In the beginning the subsystems
screws. The electrical connections of the attitude and orbit determination and
modules are established with plugs. scientific instruments will profit
These plugs are attached to the circuit most of MST introduction since the
boards of every module and are con- sensor technology is the most ad-
nected with the plugs above and below vanced of all MST applications.
automatically when the modules are MST sensors could be tested in the
stacked. To compensate for thermal near term on large satellites, before
expansion the plugs must be flexible. the introduction of nanosatellites. In
After the built-up of the main body the addition to reductions in mass, vol-
six solar arrays are fastened to the sides ume and power consumption im-
of the satellite. provements in performance com-
pared to present systems can be
7 CONCLUSION achieved.
n The use of MST for space applica- n Due to different limitations nano-
tions has a high potential to reduce satellites will probably be used for
size, mass, power consumption and applications that require low power,
808 Small Satellites for Earth Observation

low data rates and low optical reso-
lutions.
Instead of replacing existing satellite
systems, new applications will
emerge which exploit the unique
features of nanosatellites such as
cheap and fast mass production and
launch.
The average available power for a
nanosatellite will be less than 6 W.
Thermal control of nanosatellites
seems to be no problem and can be
handled with passive measures.
The size of a nanosatellite basically
allows the use of all frequency
bands but several factors could be
decisive for the use of lower fre-
quencies like the 2-m and the 70-
cm-bands.
Data rates are in the range of 20
kbps for mobile applications and
800 kbps with large ground stations.
Optical systems on nanosatellites
allow ground resolutions of 30 m
and more.
For large nanosatellite networks
new ways of highly automated op-
eration have to be developed and
could result in uncontrolled clusters.
Nanosatellite networks must be re-
moved from orbit at the end of their
lifetime to prevent a large amount of
space debris. A high priority should
be the study of alternatives
chemical or electrical propulsion
like a braking balloon system.
The design of nanosatellites should
use a modular system to create sat-
ellites for different missions from
standardized units. This allows a
cheap mass production and simpli-
fies the assembly.
Undoubted is the high potential of MST
for space applications to achieve reduc-
tions in mass, size, power consumption
and cost. What remains uncertain is the
role nanosatellites will play in future
space systems.
With all the enthusiasm for new ad-
vances in the downscaling of compo-
nents and subsystems it should not be
forgotten that the performance of certain
satellite functions is controlled by fun-
damental physical laws which can not
be bypassed. It will not be possible to
shrink a large communication or Earth
observation satellite to nanosatellite
size.
But despite of all limitations, disad-
vantages and uncertainties of nanosat-
ellites their future construction seems to
be very promising. A new class of ap-
plications will emerge which will com-
plement existing systems and, in some
cases, even replace them.
8 REFERENCES
I. Unconventional Satellite Design KA898-e-
001-01, Kayser-Threde GmbH, Munich
( 1995)
2. RAMSES, Final Report, RAMSES-DOR-
FR-001 (1995)
3. H. Helvajian and E. Y. Robinson (cd.): Mi-
cro- and Nanotechnologies for Space Sys-
tems: An Initial Evaluation, The Aerospace
Corporation Report No. ATK-93 (8349)-l
(I 993)
4. MicroiNanotechnologies for Space, Round
Table ESTEC, ESA WPP-091 (I 995)
5. Itnpuct of Advances in Technology on Fu-
ture Spacecraft Design, IAT-FSD-DOR-FR-
to 00 I ( 1993)
6. Wilson (ed.): Junes Space Directory /994-
95, Janes Information Group Limited
(1994)
G. Seeber, Scttellitengeodiisie, p. 178-2 I I,
Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York (1989)
R. Kursinski, Monitoring the Earths Atmos-
phcre with GPS, Cf.5 World, March 1994
W.G. Melbourne, E.R. Kursinski, E.S. Davis
(JPL): The Application of Space-Borne GPS
to Atmospheric Limb Sounding and Global
Change Monitoring, International Workshop
on Global Positioning System in Geo-
sciences. Technical University of Crctc,
Chania, Greece, 8-10 June I992