A combined data and power management infrastructure: for small satellites

摘要

Within academic and nongovernment space science communities, there is a continuing need for innovative and relatively low-cost approaches to small satellite design that can minimize the size, weight, and power consumption of any given mission payload. Most small satellites are launched in a piggyback fashion within an ensemble of many other satellites. The cost of placing the desired mission payload and its supporting satellite infrastructure into the required orbit can generally be considerably reduced by minimizing the overall size, weight, and power consumption. In many cases, the onboard computer, power supply, and system control components of this infrastructure exceed the bulk of the mission payload, so these aspects tend to dominate requirements for innovative and low-cost approaches to satellite design.