Engineering PapersSearch

Engineering topics

Jarkey, D. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Jarkey, D. R..

Assessing Compliance with United States Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Guidelines

There are currently no exceptions or special considerations for CubeSats in the United States Government (USG) Orbital Debris (OD) Mitigation Guidelines. For all objects launched into space the 2010 United States Space Policy requires that any failure to comply with the USG OD Mitigation Guidelines requires approval by the head of the launching agency. In addition it requires that the US Secretary of State be notified of any non‐compliance. For these reasons it is important that missions consider these policies during their design phase. This paper will discuss methods to assess compliance with USG OD mitigation guidelines as they apply to CubeSat missions using tools such as the NASA Debris Assessment Software (DAS).

Kelley, R. L.

CubeSat Material Limits for Design for Demise

The CubeSat form factor of nano-satellite (a satellite with a mass between one and ten kilograms) has grown in popularity due to their ease of construction and low development and launch costs. In particular, their use as student led payload design projects has increased due to the growing number of launch opportunities. CubeSats are often deployed as secondary or tertiary payloads on most US launch vehicles or they may be deployed from the ISS. The focus of this study will be on CubeSats launched from the ISS. From a space safety standpoint, the development and deployment processes for CubeSats differ significantly from that of most satellites. For large satellites, extensive design reviews and documentation are completed, including assessing requirements associated with re-entry survivability. Typical CubeSat missions selected for ISS deployment have a less rigorous review process that may not evaluate aspects beyond overall design feasibility. CubeSat design teams often do not have the resources to ensure their design is compliant with re-entry risk requirements. A study was conducted to examine methods to easily identify the maximum amount of a given material that can be used in the construction of a CubeSats without posing harm to persons on the ground. The results demonstrate that there is not a general equation or relationship that can be used for all materials; instead a limiting value must be defined for each unique material. In addition, the specific limits found for a number of generic materials that have been previously used as benchmarking materials for re-entry survivability analysis tool comparison will be discussed.

Kelley, R. L.

Orbital Debris Mitigation

Policies on limiting orbital debris are found throughout the US Government, many foreign space agencies, and as adopted guidelines in the United Nations. The underlying purpose of these policies is to ensure the environment remains safe for the operation of robotic and human spacecraft in near‐ Earth orbit. For this reason, it is important to consider orbital debris mitigation during the design of all space vehicles. Documenting compliance with the debris mitigation guidelines occurs after the vehicle has already been designed and fabricated for many CubeSats, whereas larger satellites are evaluated throughout the design process. This paper will provide a brief explanation of the US Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices, a discussion of international guidelines, as well as NASA's process for compliance evaluation. In addition, it will discuss the educational value of considering orbital debris mitigation requirements as a part of student built satellite design.

Kelley, R. L.

CubeSat Material Limits For Design for Demise

The CubeSat form factor of nano‐satellite (a satellite with a mass between one and ten kilograms) has grown in popularity due to their ease of construction and low development and launch costs. In particular, their use as student led payload design projects has increased due to the growing number of launch opportunities. CubeSats are often deployed as secondary or tertiary payloads on most US launch vehicles or they may be deployed from the ISS. The focus of this study will be on CubeSats launched from the ISS. From a space safety standpoint, the development and deployment processes for CubeSats differ significantly from that of most satellites. For large satellites, extensive design reviews and documentation are completed, including assessing requirements associated with reentry survivability. Typical CubeSat missions selected for ISS deployment have a less rigorous review process that may not evaluate aspects beyond overall design feasibility. CubeSat design teams often do not have the resources to ensure their design is compliant with reentry risk requirements. A study was conducted to examine methods to easily identify the maximum amount of a given material that can be used in the construction of a CubeSats without posing harm to persons on the ground. The results demonstrate that there is not a general equation or relationship that can be used for all materials; instead a limiting value must be defined for each unique material. In addition, the specific limits found for a number of generic materials that have been previously used as benchmarking materials for reentry survivability analysis tool comparison will be discussed.

Kelley, R. L.