Ryu Funase

This paper presents the trajectory design for EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS), which aims to demonstrate orbit control capability of CubeSats in the cislunar space. The mission plans to observe the far side of the Moon from an Earth-Moon L2 (EML2) libration point orbit. The EQUULEUS trajectory design needs to react to uncertainties of mission design parameters such as the launch conditions, errors, and thrust levels. The main challenge is to quickly design science orbits at EML2 and low-energy transfers from the post-deployment trajectory to the science orbits within the CubeSat's limited propulsion capabilities. To overcome this challenge, we develop a systematic trajectory design approach that 1) designs over 13,000 EML2 quasi-halo orbits in a full-ephemeris model with a statistical stationkeeping cost evaluation, and 2) identifies families of low-energy transfers to the science orbits using lunar flybys and solar perturbations. The approach is successfully applied for the trajectory design of EQUULEUS.

This study proposes a micropropulsion system unifying ion thrusters and resistojet thrusters and assessing that propulsive capability. The remarkable features of the system are the usage of water propellant and unification of the two types of thrusters by the single propellant. Water has been regarded as an attractive propellant in the view points of safety, availability, handling ability, low molecular mass, and future procurement in space. A multimode propulsion system is an attractive solution for the increasing demand for nano-/microsatellite missions. The proposal is to use microwave discharge water ion thrusters, tolerant for oxidization by water, and low-temperature water resistojet thrusters, enabling reuse of the waste heat. As a result of the assessment, it was expected that the propulsion system would have 3U size (10 x 10 x 30 cm(3)) and 3.70 kg mass, which realize in total a 6U and 10 kg satellite with 3U and 6 kg satellite bus system. The ion thruster would provide the maximum Delta V of 630 m/s by 47 W system power and the resistojet thruster would have 3.80 mN thrust and 72 s specific impulse by 19.4 W. Additionally, reuse of the waste heat from ion-thruster power supplies would enable the simultaneous operations of the two thrusters even at 50 W, which is almost the same power as the single ion thruster operation.

Toward an era of x-ray astronomy, next-generation x-ray optics are indispensable. To meet a demand for telescopes lighter than the foil optics but with a better angular resolution <1 arcmin, we are developing micropore x-ray optics based on micromaching technologies. Using sidewalls of micropores through a thin silicon wafer, this type can be the lightest x-ray telescope ever achieved. Two Japanese missions, ORBIS and GEO-X, will carry this telescope. ORBIS is a small x-ray astronomy mission to monitor supermassive blackholes, while GEO-X is a small exploration mission of the Earth's magnetosphere. Both missions need an ultralight-weight (<1 kg) telescope with moderately good angular resolution (<10 arcmin) at an extremely short focal length (<30 cm). We plan to demonstrate this type of telescope in these two missions around 2020. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Low-thrust propulsion is a key technology for space exploration, and much work in astrodynamics has focused on the mathematical modeling and the optimization of low-thrust trajectories. Typically, a nominal trajectory is designed in a deterministic system. To account for model and execution errors, mission designers heuristically add margins, for example, by reducing the thrust and specific impulse or by computing penalties for specific failures. These conventional methods are time-consuming, done by hand by experts, and lead to conservative margins. This paper introduces a new method to compute nominal trajectories, taking into account disturbances. The method is based on stochastic differential dynamic programming, which has been used in the field of reinforcement learning but not yet in astrodynamics. A modified version of stochastic differential dynamic programming is proposed, where the stochastic dynamical system is modeled as the deterministic dynamical system with random state perturbations, the perturbed trajectories are corrected by linear feedback control policies, and the expected value is computed with the unscented transform method, which enables solving trajectory design problems. Finally, numerical examples are presented, where the solutions of the proposed method are more robust to errors and require fewer penalties than those computed with traditional approaches, when uncertainties are introduced.

Earth observation satellites can improve the flexibility of observation sites by having &ldquo;maneuverability,&rdquo; and low-thrust obtained by ion thruster will be a promising method for orbital change for micro-satellites. Designing low-thrust trajectories for these satellites is a multi-revolution and multi-objective (time/fuel-optimal) optimization problem, which usually requires high computational cost to solve numerically. This paper derives an analytical and approximate optimal orbit change strategy between two circular orbits with the same semi-major axis and different local time of ascending node, and proposes a graph-based method to optimize the multi-objective criteria. The optimal control problem results in a problem to search a switching point on the proposed graph, and mission designers can design an approximate switching point on this graph, by using two heuristic and reasonable assumptions that 1) the optimal thrust direction should be tangential to orbit and 2) the optimal thrust magnitude should be bang-bang control with an intermediate coast. Finally, numerical simulation with feedback control algorithm taking thrust margin demonstrates that the proposed method can be applicable in the presence of deterministic and stochastic fluctuation of aerodynamic disturbances.

This paper describes development strategies and on-orbit results of the attitude determination and control system (ADCS) for the world's first interplanetary micro-spacecraft, PROCYON, whose advanced mission objectives are optical navigation or an asteroid close flyby. Although earth-orbiting micro-satellites already have ADCSs for practical missions, these ADCSs cannot be used for interplanetary micro-spacecraft due to differences in the space environments of their orbits. To develop a new practical ADCS, four issues for practical interplanetary micro-spacecraft are discussed: initial Sun acquisition without magnetic components, angular momentum management using a new propulsion system, the robustness realized using a fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) system, and precise attitude control. These issues have not been demonstrated on orbit by interplanetary micro-spacecraft. In order to overcome these issues, the authors developed a reliable and precise ADCS, a FDIR system without magnetic components, and ground-based evaluation systems. The four issues were evaluated before launch using the developed ground-based evaluation systems. Furthermore, they were successfully demonstrated on orbit. The architectures and simulation and on-orbit results for the developed attitude control system are proposed in this paper.

We propose thrust vector management by correctly positioning the thruster on a spacecraft by thrust vector measurement to decrease unwanted torque of thrust vector misalignment. A ground test was performed to measure 2-dimensional ion current distribution of 10W-class miniature ion thruster by electrostatic probe. The thrust vector measurement test showed that the thrust vector inclining angle was 1.4^&ordm; from the geometrically symmetric axis of the thruster. The thruster was positioned on the first interplanetary micro-spacecraft: PROCYON after redesigning thruster bracket. Thrust vector estimation in the initial on-orbit operation of 6.5 hours showed that thrust vector passes through within 5mm of the PROCYON's center of gravity.

A thermal-infrared (TIR) imager system is developed for HAYABUSA2, which is planned to be launched in 2014 and aims at sample-return from a C-class near-Earth asteroid 162173 (1999JU3) considered to contain organic or hydrated materials. The system consists of a TIR imager and digital electronics, which are used not only for the scientific investigation of physical properties of the asteroid surface, but also for the assessment of landing site selection and safe descent operation onto the asteroid surface with in situ measurement. TIR adopts an uncooled bolometer. Image operations such as multiple images summation, dark image subtraction, and the compensation of dead pixels are processed onboard. A processing module is connected to sensor interfaces through SpaceWire in order to provide deterministic processing time. Data compression is also provided to reduce the restriction of transmission time, which provides the equivalent compression ratio as JPEG2000 in 1/30 processing time in average. A high-speed data recorder is connected through SpaceWire in order to record TIR data in parallel with other sensor data. The modularity of SpaceWire enables us to use these as built devices for TIR and inherits the same design as the long-wavelength infrared imager developed for the Venus climate orbiter Akatsuki. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Planetary protection has been recognized as one of the most important issues in sample return missions that may host certain living forms and biotic signatures in a returned sample. This paper proposes an initiative of sample capsule retrieval and onboard biosafety protocol in international waters for future biological and organic constituent missions to bring samples from possible habitable bodies in the solar system. We suggest the advantages of international waters being outside of national jurisdiction and active regions of human and traffic affairs on the condition that we accept the Outer Space Treaty. The scheme of onboard biological quarantine definitely reduces the potential risk of back-contamination of extraterrestrial materials to the Earth. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

An attitude model for a general spinning solar sail spacecraft under the influence of solar radiation pressure is presented. This model, called "Generalized Spinning Sail Model", can be applied to realistic sails with nonflat surfaces that have nonuniform optical properties. The unique behaviors predicted by the generalized spinning sail model are verified by actual operation of the Japanese spinning solar sail spacecraft IKAROS. It is shown how imperfections in the sail surface affect the attitude motion of spinning sails, and a compact mathematical model that can precisely reproduce the spin-averaged motion of the spinning sails is derived. The stability conditions and a reduced model that preserves the key characteristics of the generalized spinning sail model are also derived to reveal the unique properties of the attitude behavior of spinning sails.

This paper describes achievements of the IKAROS project, the world's first successful interplanetary solar power sail technology demonstration mission. It was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and was launched from Tanegashima Space Center on May 21, 2010. IKAROS successfully deployed a 20 m-span sail on June 9, 2010. Since then IKAROS has performed interplanetary solar-sailing taking advantage of an Earth-Venus leg of the interplanetary trajectory. We declared the completion of the nominal mission phase in the end of December 2010 when IKAROS successfully passed by Venus with the assist of solar sailing. This paper describes the overview of the IKAROS spacecraft system, how the world's first interplanetary solar sailer has been operated and what were achieved by the end of the nominal mission phase. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) makes the world's first solar power sail craft IKAROS demonstration of photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise. The spacecraft deploys and spans a membrane of 20 meters in diameter using the spin centrifugal force. It also deploys thin film solar cells on the membrane, in order to evaluate its thermal control property and anti-radiation performance in the real operational field. The spacecraft weighs approximately 310kg, launched together with the agency's Venus Climate Orbiter, AKATSUKI on May 21, 2010. This paper presents the summary of development and operation of IKAROS.

This paper introduces a new attitude control system for a solar sail, which leverages solar radiation pressure. This novel system achieves completely fuel-free and oscillation-free attitude control of a flexible spinning solar sail. This system consists of thin-film-type devices that electrically control their optical parameters such as reflectivity to generate an imbalance in the solar radiation pressure applied to the edge of the sail. By using these devices, minute and continuous control torque can be applied to the sail to realize very stable and fuel-free attitude control of the large and flexible membrane. The control system was implemented as an optional attitude control system for small solar power sail demonstrator named IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun). In-orbit attitude control experiments were conducted, and the performance of the controller was successfully verified in comparison with the ground-based analytical performance estimation. © 2011 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The orbit of a solar sail can be controlled by changing the attitude of the spacecraft. In this study, we consider the spinning solar power sail IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun), which is managed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The IKAROS attitude, i.e.; the direction of its spin-axis, is nominally controlled by the rhumb-line control method. By utilizing the solar radiation torque, however, we are able to change the direction of the spin-axis by only controlling its spin rate. With this spin rate control, we can also control indirectly the solar sail's trajectory. The main objective of this study is to construct the orbit control strategy of the solar sail via the spin-rate control method. We evaluate this strategy in terms of its propellant consumption compared to the rhumb-line control method. Finally, we present the actual flight attitude data of IKAROS and the change of its trajectory. © 2011 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

It is becoming imperative to have visual capabilities for space activities. There are increasing opportunities to use visual Images coupled with image processing technologies for spacecraft sensing and control. To fill this need, we have developed a small, low-cost, high-performance image acquisition and processing unit (HP-IMAP), which uses commercial off-the-shelf technologies. In 2010, the HP-IMAP was launched to monitor a deployable structure. Herein, we describe the BP-IMAP and discuss Its qualification tests.

Small satellites, especially pico or nano-class satellites, which can be developed in a very short period and at very low cost, are considered to provide good opportunities for technology demonstration in a space environment. Based on the success of the first pico-satellite XI-IV, which was intended to establish the basic technologies required for this class of satellites, Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL) at the University of Tokyo developed its second pico-satellite XI-V with the mission to demonstrate new space technologies such as the verification of copper indium gallium di-selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells in space. The pico-satellite bus verified by XI-IV was used for this mission, so that the satellite was completed within as short a development period as one year. XI-V was launched on October 2005 and has been successfully conducting its missions. In this paper, following the introduction of the pico-satellite bus system and its demonstrated results on XI-IV, the details of the missions and on-orbit experimental results of XI-V are described.

Small satellites, especially pico- or nano-class satellites, are considered to provide good opportunity for technology demonstration. University of Tokyo's pico-satellite "XI-V", which was scheduled to be launched in September 2005, was developed in I year with the mission to test newly developed solar cells. This paper introduces the details of the mission and its effective operation using the network of ground stations. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Capture of tumbling objects in space will be one of the important on-orbit service technologies in the future. It requires a series of technologies such as camera-image tracking of the target, target attitude motion estimation, and attitude control of the chaser to approach and grasp the target. Based on theoretical and simulation-based research, the University of Tokyo successfully performed an on-orbit experiment of some of these technologies on a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA, formerly NASDA) microsatellite named "mu-LABSAT." In this paper, the objectives and procedures of these experiments, the control and estimation algorithms, and the results are described.