SMALL SATELLITE CAPABLE OF FORMATION FLYING, AND FORMATION OF MULTIPLE SMALL SATELLITES

摘要

The invention relates to a small satellite (10) which is capable of formation flying, in particular a nanosatellite or picosatellite with a mass weight of 10 kg or less, for LEO applications, comprising a housing (12) and at least one insert printed circuit board (14), which is arranged in the housing (12) and comprises a specifiable functionality and a drive system (16) for generating directed impulses in orbit in the direction of a flight trajectory T_k. The small satellite (10) comprises an independent and autonomous collision prevention device (18) which is designed to carry out a trajectory correction T_kk of the flight trajectory T_k by means of the drive system (16) if a collision with a projectile (30) is expected. Another aspect of the invention relates to the formation (100) of multiple small satellites (10) which are capable of formation flying, wherein the relative position and the flight trajectory T_k of each small satellite (10) can be modified by the independently and autonomously operating collision prevention device (18).