Related papers: Atmospheric density uncertainty effects on the orb…
Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are crucial for communications, navigation, and Earth observation. However, their operational lifetimes are strongly influenced by orbital decay due to atmospheric drag. This work presents a simplified…
The increasing number of Anthropogenic Space Objects (ASOs) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) poses a threat to the safety and sustainability of the space environment. Multiple companies are planning to launch large constellations of hundreds or…
Future launches are projected to significantly increase both the number of active satellites and aggregate collision risk in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In this paper, a dynamical systems theory approach is used to analyze the effect of launch…
Accurate and stable spacecraft pointing is a requirement of many astronomical observations. Pointing particularly challenges nanosatellites because of an unfavorable surface area to mass ratio and proportionally large volume required for…
The nearby space surrounding the Earth is densely populated by artificial satellites and instruments, whose orbits are distributed within the Low-Earth-Orbit region (LEO), ranging between 90 and 2 000 $km$ of altitude. As a consequence of…
It is projected that more than 100,000 communication satellites will be deployed in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) over the next decade. These LEO satellites (LEOsats) will be captured frequently by the survey camera onboard the China Space Station…
Advancements in nanosatellite technology lead to more Earth-observation satellites in low-Earth orbit. We explore using nanosatellite constellations to achieve low-latency detection for time-critical events, such as forest fires, oil…
This study evaluates a technique for determining the mass of a potentially hazardous asteroid from a high-speed flyby in the context of a rapid reconnaissance planetary defense scenario. We consider a host spacecraft that dispenses a small…
This paper presents a study for the realization of a space mission which employs nanosatellites driven by an external laser source impinging on an optimized lightsail, as a valuable technology to launch swarms of spacecrafts into the Solar…
With the advent of the nanosat/cubesat revolution, new opportunities have appeared to develop and launch small ($\sim$\ts 1000 cm$^3$), low-cost ($\sim$\ts US\$ 1M) experiments in space in very short timeframes ($\sim$ 2\ts years). In the…
Currently the only method to establish the prevalence of particles, space debris or meteoroids, sized between 1 micrometre and a few centimetres, in Earth orbit is by instruments or witness plates dedicated to in-situ detection. Derived…
Cubesats and similarly scaled nano-satellites present significant opportunities for hosting both scientific and commercial payloads for Earth sensing and astronomical observations, in particular in the area of rapid-response observations to…
The density of the Earth's middle and upper atmosphere is an important question in Earth science and is a critical factor in the design, operation, and orbital determination of low Earth orbit spacecraft. In this study, we employ the Earth…
Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are increasingly proposed for communication and in-orbit computing, achieving low-latency global services. However, their sustainability remains largely unexamined. This paper investigates the carbon…
LEO-to-GEO intersatellite links using laser communications bring important benefits to greatly enhance applications such as downloading big amounts of data from LEO satellites by using the GEO satellite as a relay. By using this strategy,…
Satellites, crewed spacecraft and stations in low-Earth orbit (LEO) are very sensitive to atmospheric drag. A satellite's lifetime and orbital tracking become increasingly inaccurate or uncertain during magnetic storms. Given the planned…
The development of large constellations of satellites (i.e., so-called megaconstellations or satcons) is poised to increase the number of LEO satellites by more than an order of magnitude in the coming decades. Such a rapid growth of…
With more commercial constellations planned, the number of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) objects is set to TRIPLE in two years. The growth in LEO objects directly increases the probability of unintentional collisions between objects due to…
Very low Earth orbits (VLEO), typically classified as orbits below approximately 450 km in altitude, have the potential to provide significant benefits to spacecraft over those that operate in higher altitude orbits. This paper provides a…
Large or even medium sized asteroids impacting the Earth can cause damage on a global scale. Existing and planned concepts for finding near-Earth objects (NEOs) with diameter of 140 m or larger would take ~15-20 years of observation to find…