Space experimental results of STARS-C CubeSat to verify tether deployment in orbit

摘要

STARS-C was the first trial of a tether deployment in orbit using a CubeSat to certify and acquire data for the important technology of space elevators. STARS-C is 2U in size and consists of a mother satellite (MS) and a daughter satellite (DS). It is designed to deploy a 100-m aramid fiber tether between the MS and DS. STARS-C was launched on December 9, 2016, released from J-SSOD on December 19, 2016, and operated until its re-entry on March 2, 2018. Unfortunately, the transmission conditions were so poor that detailed data on tether deployment could not be obtained. However, we found that STARS-C rotated from its JAPOS-supported optical data detected from the ground, and this rotation largely influenced the tether dynamics during and after deployment. We also estimated the tether deployment state from the STARS-C altitude history data, the satellite condition from the optical data, and additional ground tests.