Formation Flying Orbit and Control Concept for the VISORS Mission
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Abstract
The VIrtual Super Optics Reconfigurable Swarm (VISORS) mission is a distributed telescope
consisting of two 6U CubeSats separated by forty meters that will obtain high-resolution
images of active solar regions in the extreme ultraviolet spectrum. This mission is challenging
because the CubeSats must autonomously control their relative motion with unprecedented accuracy
while operating in close proximity. This paper presents three contributions that enable
the VISORS mission to meet its challenging requirements. First, passively safe absolute and
relative orbit designs for distributed telescopes that provide regular periods of alignment with
inertial targets are developed using relative eccentricity/inclination vector separation. Second,
a guidance, navigation, and control system design is proposed to meet the demanding relative
motion control requirements. Third, a concept of operations is proposed that minimizes
mission operations load when the formation is not actively performing observations. This
concept of operations includes a safety plan to address on-orbit anomalies. The performance
of the guidance, navigation, and control system is validated through Monte Carlo simulations
including all significant error sources and operational constraints. These simulations show
that the mission requirements are met with margin, providing a preliminary demonstration of
the feasibility of accurate autonomous formation control with CubeSats.
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2021-01
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