Irradiation Flux Modelling for Thermal–Electrical Simulation of CubeSats: Orbit, Attitude and Radiation Integration

Edemar Morsch Filho, Laio Oriel Seman, Cezar Antônio Rigo, Vicente de Paulo Nicolau, Raúl García Ovejero and Valderi Reis Quietinho Leithardt
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Edemar Morsch Filho: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brazil
Laio Oriel Seman: Graduate Program in Applied Computer Science, University of Vale do Itajaí, Itajaí 88302-901, Brazil
Cezar Antônio Rigo: Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brazil
Vicente de Paulo Nicolau: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brazil
Raúl García Ovejero: Expert Systems and Applications Lab., E.T.S.I.I of Béjar, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Valderi Reis Quietinho Leithardt: VALORIZA, Research Center for Endogenous Resources Valorization, Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-30

Abstract: During satellite development, engineers need to simulate and understand the satellite’s behavior in orbit and minimize failures or inadequate satellite operation. In this sense, one crucial assessment is the irradiance field, which impacts, for example, the power generation through the photovoltaic cells, as well as rules the satellite’s thermal conditions. This good practice is also valid for CubeSat projects. This paper presents a numerical tool to explore typical irradiation scenarios for CubeSat missions by combining state-of-the-art models. Such a tool can provide the input estimation for software and hardware in the loop analysis for a given initial condition and predict it along with the satellite’s lifespan. Three main models will be considered to estimate the irradiation flux over a CubeSat, namely an orbit, an attitude, and a radiation source model, including solar, albedo, and infrared emitted by the Earth. A case study illustrating the tool’s abilities is presented for a typical CubeSats’ two-line element set (TLE) and five attitudes. Finally, a possible application of the tool as an input to a CubeSat task-scheduling is introduced. The results show that the complete model’s use has considerable differences from the simplified models sometimes used in the literature.

Keywords: CubeSat; orbit perturbation; attitude; lifespan; irradiation; task scheduling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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