Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of designing and documenting a solar sail system for a 6U CubeSat conducting a Mars flyby mission. In collaboration with San Jose State University (SJSU) students and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as a part of the JPL University Crowdsourcing Initiative (JUCI), this project aims to prototype, simulate, and test a solar sail system for a Mars flyby mission. Technical Background CubeSats are modular satellites made of 10x10x10 cm units ("U's"). Their affordability and scale make them ideal for new technologies, including interplanetary missions. Nevertheless, CubeSats face limitations of traditional propulsion that require high onboarded mass and shorten mission lifespans, restricting interplanetary travel and maximum payload limit. Solar sails harness solar radiation to generate continuous thrust, thereby eliminating the need for conventional propellant and allowing for longer and more cost-effective missions. The viability of the solar sail has been well proven. IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) was a 300 kg satellite launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for a Venus flyby, demonstrating interplanetary travel with solar radiation by entering a heliocentric orbit using its 14x14 m solar sail. Lightsail 2 was a crowdfunded project from The Planetary Society which demonstrated that CubeSat solar sailing is viable. Lightsail 2 has a 33m^2 sail which accelerates at 0.058 mm/s^2. After a month, the LightSail 2’s speed would increase to 549 kph. There is a demonstrated need for CubeSat missions for Mars such as Mars Cubesat One (MarC0), which involved two CubeSats monitoring the InSight Mars Lander. This project combines aspects of IKAROS and MarC0 for an interplanetary solar sail CubeSat. Project Constraints and Requirements Some technical and project guidelines of this CubeSat are as follows: - The Solar Sail must occupy no more than 2U of space in a 6U CubeSat when stowed to maximize payload space. The sail area must be less than 100 m^2 to ensure stowed storage space. - The mass of the spacecraft shall not exceed 10 kg. - The sail deployment system must deploy the sail in a reliable and efficient manner and be capable of withstanding the mechanical stresses, vibrations, and launch loads associated with interplanetary travel, as well as the environmental conditions of Mars orbit. - The system must be designed for manufacturability using accessible materials for SJSU students to build a prototype and ensure practicality. Further restrictions and requirements will be outlined in the final paper. Preliminary Results The project is divided into 4 phases: 1) Background research, literature review, and determining project goals, constraints, and requirements 2) Design 3) Manufacturing 4) Testing Phase 1 has been completed and outlined in the previous sections. Preliminary work for Phase 2 is under progress and conducted through 3 categories: Sail geometry and storage, Deployment system, Transfer trajectory. Trade studies regarding solar sail material types, sail geometry, and deployment strategies were generated. Reflective space grade Mylar was chosen as the material for the sail and 15 m^2 of mylar has been procured. The sail will be deployed using a “tape-boom” system, where an arm is extended from each corner of the CubeSat to reveal the solar sail. Currently, the storage solution for the sail and deployment mechanism are under development. Since the solar sail leverages a gradual low thrust model as opposed to impulse thrust systems used by traditional forms of chemical propulsion, transfer trajectories like the Hohmann transfer are not applicable. One aspect of this project is to propose a transit trajectory for the solar sail powered CubeSat to conduct a Mars fly-by. The Earth-to-Mars transit trajectory was modeled like an orbital mechanism problem with key assumptions of coplanar and circular orbits and considering only the Sun and Mars for a two-body simulation. Based on the mass of the spacecraft, area of the solar sail, and initial velocity, the transfer trajectory was simulated using Newton’s Second Law and Vector Dynamics. The 10 kg CubeSat will be deployed outside the Earth’s Sphere of Influence at a velocity of 13.5 km/s, 2.5 km/s greater than the Earth’s escape velocity, and will reach Mars in roughly 1.2 years using a 100 m^2 solar sail. The CubeSat path and the equations used to derive the trajectory metrics will be shown in detail in the final paper. While this preliminary trajectory analysis simulation was based on knowledge of orbital mechanics and key assumptions, the final paper will feature more sophisticated simulation results using Ansys STK. Expected Outcomes Through the Design phase, CAD models of the deployment system will be made and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) will be conducted to determine the structural integrity of the system and make improvements to handle launch conditions. Storage geometry will be finalized. Ansys STK will be utilized to further predict the transfer trajectory and calculate the total transit time, launch window, and other trajectory metrics. A prototype will also be manufactured and deployment testing will be conducted to examine the efficiency and reliability of the deployment mechanism. The final paper will feature a storage solution for a 100 m^2 solar sail inside a 10 kg 6U Cubesat, detailed CAD model and corresponding FEA simulations for the deployment mechanism, a proposed transfer trajectory to conduct a Mars flyby, and deployment testing data of the prototype. Future Work & Expected timeline The timeline of this project is as follows: 1) Define Project Goals, Constraints, and Parameters (October 2024) - Complete 2) Procure Mylar for solar sail prototyping (December 2024) - Complete 3) Finalize CubeSat deployment orbit and transit route (by Feb 7, 2025) - On track 4) Finalize Design of deployment mechanism (by Feb 13, 2025) - On track 5) Finalize Geometry and Storage method of sail (by Feb 13, 2025) - On track 6) Finish Manufacturing Prototype v1 (by Feb 21, 2025) - To be started 7) Test solar sail deployment (by Feb 22, 2025) - To be started
DOI: 10.2514/6.2025-98694
Authors: Shrihari Arunachalam, Tyler Yuen, Sofia Boldt-Odriozola, Navdeep Singh, Sebastian Colussi, Samuel Thomas Joseph, Mason Tran, Martin Nguyen, Uttam Sri Sai Lakumalla, Praneel Deevi, Rahul Gajendran Prasannakumar, Ansh Lalwani, Jivitesh Kalle, Dr. Maria Chierichetti
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4413191256