CubeSats are becoming a reliable alternative for low-cost space applications in deep space, as mission companions or as standalone missions. The use of CubeSats in deep space requires to address many operational challenges, particularly those related to navigation. LICIACube and ArgoMoon are the first two 6U CubeSat missions to the outer space funded and managed by the Italian Space Agency, whose spacecrafts have been developed and operated by Argotec. The flight dynamics operations of both missions were performed by the flight dynamics team of the University of Bologna using NASA/JPL’s navigation software MONTE. This paper gives a brief presentation of the flight dynamics operations of ArgoMoon and LICIACube and presents the obtained results highlighting the challenges of cis-lunar and deep space CubeSat navigation as well as the achieved successes.
Lombardo M., Gomez Casajus L., Zannoni M., Gai I., Gramigna E., Tortora P., et al. (2023). An overview of the ArgoMoon and LICIAcube flight dynamics operations. Association of American Publishers [10.21741/9781644902813-138].
An overview of the ArgoMoon and LICIAcube flight dynamics operations
Lombardo M.;Gomez Casajus L.;Zannoni M.;Gai I.;Gramigna E.;Tortora P.;
2023
Abstract
CubeSats are becoming a reliable alternative for low-cost space applications in deep space, as mission companions or as standalone missions. The use of CubeSats in deep space requires to address many operational challenges, particularly those related to navigation. LICIACube and ArgoMoon are the first two 6U CubeSat missions to the outer space funded and managed by the Italian Space Agency, whose spacecrafts have been developed and operated by Argotec. The flight dynamics operations of both missions were performed by the flight dynamics team of the University of Bologna using NASA/JPL’s navigation software MONTE. This paper gives a brief presentation of the flight dynamics operations of ArgoMoon and LICIACube and presents the obtained results highlighting the challenges of cis-lunar and deep space CubeSat navigation as well as the achieved successes.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
