Special features of control of small space vehicles

of scientific-educational purposes

V.I.Mayorova

N.E.Bauman MSTU

Since the end of the 20^th century the space vehicles of scientific and educational purposes have been an important element of space activities of many countries and international associations. Such spacecrafts are successfully used for a wide range of space researches and experiments, space monitoring and observations of the Earth from space. Here by space vehicles of scientific and educational purposes we mean small space vehicles (university satellites), SSV.

Committee on Space Use of United Nations Organization pays much attention to development of the educational system in the field of cosmonautics, rocket and space engineering, development of the educational system that uses space techniques and international cooperation in this sphere. Allowing for importance of scientific and educational projects, the leading space associations (and in the first place NASA and European Space Agency) actively support their implementation. The main concept of international collaboration in space education is an openness of scientific and educational projects and opportunities for youth, students and young scientists to take an active part in them.

The results obtained using SSV are accessible for all interested users. To control SSV flight and transmit the telemetric information amateur bands are successfully used, and the results are uploaded to Internet.

We shall note the specific features of these SSV and satellite systems on their basis:

-         patterns of way launch and cluster launch are widely used for SSV ascent;

-         low operation orbits (up to 2000 km) at wide range of possible deviations;

-         large diversity of the problems being solved (Earth observations from space, arrangement of experimental communication channels and information exchange, space monitoring, conduction of scientific and technological experiments in space, etc.);

-         amateur bands used for Earth-SSV and SSV-Earth information exchange;

-         large number of participants of the SSV program (collaboration between the higher schools) and extensive geography of their allocation in Russia and the Globe;

-         students and post-graduate students directly taking part in control of scientific and educational SSV flights. Hence the control process and information acquisition from the satellite and its processing should be simple;

-         wide employment of open information networks and communications channels;

-         implementation of new information technologies for control. This leads to quality improvement and control cost reduction;

-         possible implementation of nonstandard (pioneer) approaches to solution of engineering and managerial problems and associated risks;

-         limited funds.

A number of scientific and educational projects have been realized in Russia associated with design of small space vehicles: "Zeya", "Mozhaets", "Colibry", "Mozhaets-4", "Universitetskiy-Tatyana", "Mozhaets-5", "Baumanets", and "Yubileyniy". The projects of "Chibis", "Mozhaets-M", "UGATASAT", "Tatyana-2", "TUS-M", etc. are being developed now. The specified projects were realized in the universities and involved some leading Russian space enterprises - DB "Polyot", EDB IKI RAS, SPA Mashinostroeniya, M.F.Reshetnev SPA PM, SPE VNIIEM. The growing number of university satellites allows their application for solution of some scientific, engineering and applied space problems.

The brief survey is considered in this work.