Development status of AEOLDOS - a deorbit module for small satellites

Harkness, P. , McRobb, M. , Lützkendorf, P., Milligan, R., Feeney, A. and Clark, C. (2014) Development status of AEOLDOS - a deorbit module for small satellites. Advances in Space Research, 54(1), pp. 82-91. (doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2014.03.022)

Abstract

A prototype CubeSat module to deploy a gossamer aerobrake, using strain stored in tape-springs, at end-of-life is described. A novel hub geometry to reduce bending shock at end-of-deployment while simultaneously permitting radial, as opposed to tangential, deployment is proposed. The rpm of the hub is measured under various deployment conditions to verify that the system offers highly-repeatable performance, while high-speed photography is used to characterise the behaviour of the tape-spring during unspooling and contrast it to the behaviour of a traditional tangential-deployment system. Secondly the folding pattern of the membrane, which takes advantage of the symmetrical deployment offered by the petal hub, is developed and the unfolding mechanism is verified by numerical and experimental analysis. Finally, the release of the stored strain is considered and a novel burn-though device is designed and prototyped to meet this requirement.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Feeney, Dr Andrew and McRobb, Dr Malcolm and Harkness, Professor Patrick
• Authors: Harkness, P., McRobb, M., Lützkendorf, P., Milligan, R., Feeney, A., and Clark, C.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Advances in Space Research
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0273-1177
• ISSN (Online): 1879-1948
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2014 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Advances in Space Research 54(1):82-91
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License