FORMATION FLYING ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR A BIG LEAP IN SCIENCE MISSION AND PERSPECTIVES FOR SPACE PROJECTS

摘要

Up to now, any Scientific space project could only rely on the maximum payload accommodation capability of a single satellite. The latter is limited mostly by both the selected launcher capacity to transfer the whole satellite mass in the proper orbit and the fairing volume. This compulsorily constrained instruments like telescopes in terms of focal lengths, mirror surface and aperture sizes, mass. It prevented as well from any access in space to high performances concepts like for instance Large Base Interferometry payload. In the course of the last 5 years, a tremendous step of formation flying configurations that have been proved feasible in the time frame of the 10 years to come. Alcatel Alenia Space has been working continuously over this period on the assessment of system architecture, on development of key subsystems and on characterization of validation systems that will enable to fly such ambitious projects like DARWIN and PEGASE (near-IR nulling interferometer), XEUS and Simbol-X (X-Ray focusing telescopes), MAX (Gamma-ray focusing telescope), ASPICS (coronograph for Sun observation). Items that have been studied in detail at Alcatel Alenia Space covers all areas from the metrology (RF and optical subsystems are under development) to the on-board Guidance, Navigation and Control (applicable to several configurations from 2 to more than 3 satellites). Moreover, Alcatel Alenia Space has taken a very concrete step towards space validation with the involvement, behind the French space agency CNES, in the first in-flight formation flying test bed developed by the Swedish space agency: PRISMA.