Space Mission

Mission – Assignment, Operation, Journey, Trip.

Space Mission: it ranges widely from communications, to planetary exploration, to
proposals for space manufacturing, to burial in space.

• Low Earth Orbit

• Medium Altitude Earth Orbit
• Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
• Deep Space Missions

Comparison_satellite_navigation_orbits.svg

Space Mission Design & Analysis 1

 Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

• LEO lies between 150km (93 miles) and about 1000km(621miles)

• LEO can be loosely defined as any orbit that is below 1000km, or generally below
the inner hazardous Van Allen radiation belt.

Examples of LEO missions: (ISS, Iridium satellite constellation)

• Flight test
• Earth observation for scientific, military,
meteorological and other utilitarian purposes.
• Observations of local or deep space phenomena.

6 orbits of 11 satellite each

Space Mission Design & Analysis 2

 Medium Altitude Earth Orbit\ Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)

• MEO is also called as Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO) lies between above LEO
to the below geosynchronous orbit. MEO lies between altitude of above 2000km
(1243 miles) and below 35, 786km(22,236miles)

Examples of MEO missions:

Golbal Positioning Sysytem (GPS) satellites
• Several communication and navigation satellites
• GLONASS (26), GPS (31), Galileo (24) and BeiDuo (35)

• This orbits avoid the dangerous inner radiation belt but are significantly deeper in
the outer belt than geostationary satellites and thus experience a substantially
higher electron flux.
Space Mission Design & Analysis 3
Medium Altitude Earth Orbit\ Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)

Space Mission Design & Analysis 4

 Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)

• GEO and particularly specific GEO knows as geostationary. GEO is also referred
as geosynchronous equatorial orbit. GEO is at 35785km above the Earth’s equator.
• A spacecraft in GEO is moving synchrony with the Earth (orbit period that of
Earth’s day, 24h).
• The special case of a 24h circular equatorial orbit will the satellite appear to hover
in one spot over the Earth. (geostationary)

Examples:

Communication satellites
IRNSS-3GSO and 4GEO
Weather satellites
Space observation from GEO (deep space)
International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observatory satellite used an elliptic
GEO orbit with a 24300km perigee altitude and 47300kn apogee altitude.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 5

Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)

Space Mission Design & Analysis 6

 Deep Space Missions

• In general, deep space missions fall into one of three categories: inner solar
systems targets, outer solar system targets and solar orbital (small bodies).
• Inner planetary missions: the target bodies included in this category are those
from Mercury to the inner reaches of the asteroid belt. The energy required to
reach these extremes from Earth is roughly 30-40 km2/s2. Mariner 10 spacecraft
uses gravity assist to reach Mercury . (one of the first astrodynamically complex
mission)
• Outer Planetary Missions: the target bodies include in this category are those from
Jupiter to beneath Kuiper belt.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 7

 Deep Space Missions

Outer planet observatory:

Galileo for Jupiter.

Cassini for Saturn
• Pioneers 10 and 11 led the way to the outer planets, with Pioneer 10 flying by
Jupiter and Pioneer 11 visiting both Jupiter and Saturn.
• These missions were followed by Voyagers 1 and 2 both of which have flown by
both Jupiter and Saturn, surveying both the planets and many of their moons.

Small Bodeis

• Comets and asteroids, the small bodies of the solar system.

• The main belt asteroids are sufficiently distant from the sun that they are relatively
difficult to reach in terms of energy and flight time

Space Mission Design & Analysis 8

 The Space Mission Life Cycle

• The life cycle of a space mission, which typically progresses through four phases:

• Concept exploration: the initial study phase, which results in a broad definition of
the space mission and its components.

• Detailed development: the formal design phase, which results in a detailed

definition of the system components and in larger program, development of test
hardware or software

• Production and deployment: the construction of the ground and flight hardware
and software and launch of the first full constellation satellites.

• Operations and support: the day-to-day operation of the space system, its
maintenance and support, and finally its deorbit or recovery at the end of the
mission life.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 9

The Space Mission Life Cycle

Space Mission Design & Analysis 10

 Mission Objectives

• The first step in analyzing and designing a space mission is to define mission
objectives: the broad goals which the system must achieve to be productive.

• Eg: FireSat.

Primary Objective:
To detect, identify and monitor forest fires throughout the United States, including
Alska and Hawaii, in near real time.

Secondary Objectives:
To demonstrate to the public that positive action is underway to contain forest fires.
To collect statistical data on the outbreak and growth of forest fires.
To monitor forest fires for other countries
To collect other forest management data.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 11

 Mission Needs, Requirements, and Constraints

• To achieve mission objectives, we wish to transform them into preliminary sets of

numerical requirements and constraints on the space mission’s performance
operation.

• These requirements and constraints will largely establish the operational concepts
that will meet our objectives.

• To transform mission objective into requirements, we must look at three broad

areas:

• Functional Requirements, which define how well the system must perform to meet
its objectives.

• Operational Requirements, which determine how the system operates and how
users interact with it to achieve its broad objectives.

• Constraints, which limit cost, schedule, and implementation techniques available

to the system designer.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 12

 Mission Characterization

• Mission characterization is the initial process of selecting and defining a space mission.
• The goal is to select the best overall approach from the wide range available to execute
a space mission.
• Typically we wish to choose the lowest cost or the most cost-effective approach, and
provide a traceable rationale that is intelligible to decision makers.

Step -1: Identifying the mission concepts and alternative mission concepts. (The broad
mission concept is the most fundamental statement of how the mission will wrok, how it
gets data or carries out the mission to satisfy the end user’s needs.)

Step -2: Identifying the mission and alternative mission architectures (MA consists of
mission concepts as well as mission elements such as launch element, ground element,
mission operations, command control and communication architeure, subject, orbit and
constellation and space element)

Step -3: Identifying the system drivers. (System drivers are the principal mission
parameters or characteristics which influence performance, cost, risk or schedule and
which the user or designer can control )

Step -4: Characterizing the mission architectures.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 13

 Mission Evaluation

Mission evaluation addresses

• How to identify the key requirements which drive the system design .
• How to quantify mission performance, and
• How to select one or more concepts for further development
• To decide that we cannot achieve the mission within current constraints or
technology

Example: FireSat

• Which FireSat requirement dominates the system design or is the most difficult or
expensive to meet?
• How well can FireSat detect and monitor forest fires and at what cost?

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