DSMC Aerothermal Study for 3U CubeSat Probes in LEO

摘要

High-altitude aerothermodynamic models suffer from large uncertainties, which result in overdesigned thermal protection systems and increased launch costs. Reducing these uncertainties, as well as general characterization of upper atmospheric properties, is of great interest to the aerospace community. While replicating such high-enthalpy flows in a laboratory environment is difficult, several missions have attempted to directly measure the flow around reentering spacecraft However, many of these missions have had limited success, resulting in gaps in the measurement domain. CubeSats provide a relatively inexpensive and unique opportunity for a wide measurement domain, both in altitude and velocity. This work examines the flow around a 3U CubeSat during an orbital decay maneuver, assuming a circular orbital launch above 200 km. Additionally, we examine the necessary adaptations for ram-facing probe development to obtain meaningful atmospheric measurements above 130 km with current sensor technology.