TechSat 21 - Space Missions using Collaborating Constellations of Satellites

New technologies for power systems, electronics, micro-electro-mechanical systems, structures, and payloads are enabling significant reduction in the size, cost, and weight of satellites. It is estimated that satellites supplying 1 kW prime power with 1 GFLOP processing capability can be mass-produced at less than 100 kg in the near future. These capable, lightweight, low cost micro-satellites open up new vistas for space system architectures. Concepts are presented which distribute the function of a satellite to a cluster of such micro-satellites flying in formation. It is shown that simply subdividing a satellite into smaller pieces does not in itself offer more efficient ways to do a space mission because…