Autonomous reconfiguration of a distributed synthetic aperture radar driven by mission requirements
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Autonomous reconfiguration of a distributed synthetic aperture radar driven by mission requirements S. Sarno1 · M. D’Errico1 · J. Guo2 · E. Gill2 Received: 31 October 2019 / Revised: 31 May 2020 / Accepted: 3 June 2020 © CEAS 2020
Abstract This paper introduces a strategy for an autonomous reconfiguration of a fractionated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft system. The radar antenna is distributed on a small-satellite formation that can be reconfigured on orbit depending on the mission requirements. Once the acquisition geometry is specified in terms of formation type and the desired requirements are defined, the information is transmitted to the cluster. Hence, each satellite determines its own final state and elaborates the necessary trajectory for maneuvering. The reconfiguration algorithm is decentralized and exists in a distributed computational architecture. Therefore, the spacecraft platforms are assumed to be equal and able to communicate among each other. To demonstrate the viability of the proposed approach, a specific scenario is considered, with a distributed SAR operating at X-band that has to be reconfigured for interferometric applications. Simulation results show that once remote sensing requirements are specified, the developed algorithm can manage autonomously the spacecraft reconfiguration toward the corresponding operative pattern. Keywords Distributed SAR · Formation flying · Autonomous reconfiguration · Path planning · Relative guidance
1 Introduction In a distributed space system, satellites operate collectively to achieve a common task. The rising interest for missions based on formation flying (Prisma [1], Grace [2], Tandem-X [3]) is mainly due to the high degree of flexibility offered by distributed space architecture. The possibility of substituting obsolete or damaged components for mission lifetime increase and the exploitation of multiple payloads for realization of sensors not conceivable with monolithic spacecraft are only few of the possibilities offered by these systems. * S. Sarno [email protected] M. D’Errico [email protected] J. Guo [email protected] E. Gill [email protected] 1
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa, CE, Italy
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
2
Furthermore, the advanced miniaturization of single components is paving the way for distributed mission concepts based on small satellites [4], whose synergetic exploitation would in future allow reaching performance comparable to those of standard platforms. The formation-flying potential is high especially in the field of remote sensing [5, 6]. Tandem-X is the most tangible result of this technology. In this case, the proper utilization of data collected by two spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) orbiting the Earth in a close formation enables the generation of digital elevation models of the whole Earth. The evolution of bistatic ra
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