Executive summary 2012

Executive summary 2012

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Summary

Foreword 5

2012:aneventfulyear

Mission 6

Alinkbetweeninstitutions,academiaandindustry

Role 6

Members 7

Anetworkinexpansion

CleanSpaceOne 8 ASwisssolutiontotacklespacedebris

CHEOPS 10 Asatellitetoanalyseexoplanets

Education 13 Anewtooltocalculatetheorientationofasatellite

“MesuredePositionnement” 14 Topromoteinnovativeideasandnewproducts relatedtothespacesector

Promotionofspace 16 SpaceTechnologySummercampinMoscow Odysséeexhibitionat“FoireduValais” Concurrentdesigntrainingcourse 17 IAFconferenceinNaples 18 VisittoBeihangUniversityinBeijing 18

Members’word 20

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Foreword

2012 : an eventful year

TheSwissSpaceCenterexperiencedsignificantchangesin2012.InJanuaryit’sstatusgrewfromregionaltonationalsignificance.Theobjectivesof theCenter thusexpandedwith theadventofnewprojectsandexcitingmandates.

AttheheartoftheSwissSpaceCentersinceitscreationin2003is theobjective to reinforce thepositionofSwissSpacestake-holders,whetherinstitutional,academic,orindustrialplayers.

WiththeevolutioninJanuary2012fromaregionalCentertoanorganization of national significance, the Swiss Space CenterstaystruetoitsinitialmandatetonetworkSwissresearchinstitu-tionsandindustriesonnationalandinternationallevelsinordertoestablishfocusedareasofexcellenceinternationallyrecognizedforbothspaceR&Dandapplications.Notonlythat,buttheroletofacilitateaccesstoandimplementspaceprojectsforSwissre-searchinstitutionsandindustrieshasbeengreatlystrengthenedbystrategicpositioning.

2012 was an exciting and challenging year starting with thelaunch of the CleanSpace One study that had a very positiveecho in the media worldwide, placing Switzerland once againontheinternationalstage.Thesteadyincreaseofmembers,thesupportofhostsandpartnersallowedtheCentertorefurbishitsConcurrentDesignFacility,buildupaclean-roomforeducationalpurposesandcontribute to theadvancementof space interestthrougheventsandcoordinationofspecificactivitiessuchastheverysuccessful“MesuresdePostionement”.

MostmembersparticipatedintheStrategicCommittee,thead-visorybodythatin2012helpedintheorientationoftheCenterandwhosemajoroutputwasarecommendationfornewTermsofReferencethatwillgoverntheCenterinthefuture.

Duringthelastquarterof2012,Switzerlandwasappointedtotheco-presidencyoftheESAministerialconference,andinparallelwon the ESA Small-sat call for tenders with the CHEOPSpro-posal.Theseelements,amongothers,ensurethattheeyesoftheinternationalspacecommunityareturnedtowardsSwitzerland.Withitsmembersandpartners,theSwissSpaceCenterwillcon-tributeinthenextyearstotheexcellenceofSwisscontributiontospacethroughinnovativetechnologicaladvances,reliableprod-uctdevelopmentsinourindustryaswellasinternationalcollabo-rationsinEuropeandbeyond.

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Mission

A link between institutions, academia and industry

TheSwissSpaceCenterprovidesaservicesupportinginstitutions,academiaandindustrytoaccessspacemissionsandrelatedap-plications,andpromoteinteractionbetweenthesestakeholders.

Role

• TonetworkSwissresearch institutionsand industriesonna-tional and international levels in order to establish focusedareasofexcellence internationallyrecognizedforbothspaceR&Dandapplications;

• To facilitateaccess toand implementationof spaceprojectsforSwissresearchinstitutionsandindustries;

• Toprovideeducationandtraining;• Topromotepublicawarenessofspace.

DanielNeuenschwander,SERISwissSpaceOfficeDirectorandProf.VolkerGass,SwissSpaceCenterDirector.

SwissSpaceCenterMembers.

Members

A network in expansion

Duringtheyear2012,theSwissSpaceCenterwelcomedsevennewSwissentitieswithinitsmembers:theETHZ,twouniversitiesofappliedsciences(HES-SOandHochschuleLuzern),twoindus-tries(ConstelliumandAPCO)andtwostart-up(MicosEngineer-ing and Saphyrion) joined the network. This trend continues inthefirstquarter2013with6newindustrialmembers(Almatech,Clemessy,Meggitt,Sarmap,SercaloandSpectratime).

Therefore,theSwissSpaceCentercurrentlycounts19membersfromeachregionofSwitzerlandandrepresentingallthetypesofcompanies(largesize,mediumandstart-up),academies(SwissFederal Institutes,Universities,Universitiesof applied sciences)andinstitutions(SwissSpaceOffice,CSEM).Discussionsareon-goingwithotherentitiesfromtheSwissspacecommunitytoin-cludemoremembersin2013.

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CleanSpace One

A Swiss solution to tackle space debris

Thedestructionofanagingsatellitesin2007byaChineseanti-sat-ellitemissiletest,andtheaccidentalcollisionbetweentheAmeri-cansatelliteIridiumandtheRussianCosmosin2009broughtanewemphasisontheorbitaldebrisproblem.Althoughinthepast,satellite trafficmonitoringwasonlybasedondebrismonitoringandcollisionavoidance,allmajorspaceagenciesnowagreeupontheneedforactivedebrisremoval.In2011,about14’000debrisabove10cmwerecatalogued.About2’000oftheseareremainsoflaunchvehiclesand10’000originatefromnon-operationalsat-ellites(seethefigure10below).

Over the years, many studies have been conducted to activelyremovedebrisfromLEOandGEO,andthereisavastpoolofin-formationonthistopic.However,allsolutionsknownatthisdatearedifficulttoimplementandrequirenon-trivialresources(cost,mass….).Furthermore,allthesesolutionsneednewtechnologydevelopmentsforefficientdebrisremoval.

Credit:NASA,J.C.Liou,An active debris removal parametric study for LEO environment remediation.AdvancesinSpaceResearch,2011.

Basedontheseobservations,theSwissSpaceCenterhasbeeninvolved in research activities over the last 3 years, preliminarydebrisremovaldesigns,andSwisstechnologysurveysinapro-gramcalled“Clean-mE”.Thisprogramhasbroughtthebasisfortoday’sCleanSpaceOne(CSO)project,whichpurposewillbetodemonstrateActiveDebrisRemoval(ADR).ThemainmotivationbehindtheCleanSpaceOneprojectistoincreaseawarenessandstartmitigating the impacton thespaceenvironmentbyactingresponsiblyand removingour“debris” fromorbit thusprovingthatitisfeasible.

During2012,aconceptualdesignoftheCleanSpaceOnenano-satellite was done, and several student projects continued thetechnologydevelopmentsintheareaofthegraspingandvisionsystems.

CleanSpaceOnechasingSwissCube(artistview).

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CHEOPS

A satellite to analyse exoplanets

TheCHaracterizingExoPlanetSatellite(CHEOPS)willbethefirstmissiondedicatedtosearchfortransitsbymeansofultrahighpre-cisionphotometryonbrightstarsalreadyknowntohostplanetsinthesuper-EarthtoNeptunemassrange(1<Mplanet / MEarth < 20).Bybeingable topoint at nearly any locationon the sky, itwillprovidetheuniquecapabilityofdeterminingaccurateradiiforasubsetofthoseplanetsforwhichthemasshasalreadybeenes-timated fromground-basedspectroscopicsurveys.Themissionwillalsoprovideprecisionradiifornewplanetsdiscoveredbythenextgenerationground-basedtransitssurveys(Neptune-sizeandsmaller).

TheSwissSpaceCenterwasresponsiblefortheflightsegmentworkpackageintheproject.Activitiesin2012startedwithPre-liminary Requirements Review. Based on the preliminary studythe team has responded to ESA’s S-mission call (June 2012).CHEOPS proposal was the only one recommended for furtherstudyoutof26proposals fromtheshort list (outofmore than50 submitted). After the selection the project was evaluated attheESA’sConcurrentDesignFacilityandtheSwissSpaceCenterhasprovidedactivesupport.NomajorissueswerefoundduringtheCDFstudyandprojecthavemovedtowardsPhasesAandBin2013/2014.

CHEOPSprojectisledbyUniversityofBern(PI:Prof.W.Benz).ESA will contribute part of the costs of the project (spacecraftbusandlaunchcostsamongothers).Switzerlandwillpartnerwithothercountriestoprovidetheinstrument.SwisspartnersincludetheSwissSpaceCenter,UniversityofGenève,ETHZandRUAG.Ontheinstrumentside,varioussubsystemswillbecontributedbyItaly,Belgium,Austria,France,UK,Hungary,PortugalandSwe-den.UKwillactivelyparticipateinMissionoperations.

ThemissionwillflyasinglepayloadonasmallsatelliteplatformandthetotalmassoftheS/Cwillbeontheorderof200kg.Toob-tainhighphotometricstability,thermalstabilityoftheinstrumentandstraylightsuppressionfromtheEartharedesigndrivers.Atthesametime,theobservableskyshouldbemaximized.

Tomeettheaboverequirements,thetelescopewillbeorbitinginaSunSynchronousLowEarthOrbithavingaLTANof6a.m.andanaltitudeof620 to800km.Thisorbitminimizeseclipsesand

thereforeprovidesa thermallystableenvironment.Toallow thestringentthermalcontrolofthedetector,theS/Cwillbe3-axissta-bilizedbutnadirlocked.PayloadradiatorsshallalwaysfaceawayfromEarthtocoldspace.AsmallsunshieldpreventsilluminationoftheseradiatorsbytheSun,thereforeprovidingathermallysta-bleenvironment for thepayload radiators.Thisorbitallowssci-encerequirementfulfilment.

Inadditiontoathermallystableenvironment,theinstrumentre-quireshighpointingstability:thetelescopeline-of-sightmustre-main stable to 8 arcsec RMS over a 10-hour observing period.Thisprecisioncanbeachievedonasmallplatformbyincludingtheinstrumentdataintheattitudecontrolloop.

TheCHEOPSsatellitewillobserveindividualtargetstarsinatrackand stare mode. Following target acquisition of a single star -whichwilltakelessthanaminute-thetelescopewillcontinuous-lypointatthetargetfortypically6-12hoursbutuptoafewweeksifthephasemodulationoftheplanetismeasured.Thetelescopeoperationwillbedominatedbymanysuchshortpointings,typi-callyonlyobservingastarwhenthetransitisexpectedtooccur.So,fromadatapointofview,CHEOPSisasimpleinstrument.TheteambaselinesanS-bandsystemforTM/TCanddatadownlink.TheS/Cwillprovide50Wcontinuouspowerforinstrumentopera-tionsandallowforatleast1GBit/daydownlink(seeFigure3,left,forarenderingofthes/c).

Parameter Value

Name CHEOPS (CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite)

Primary science goal Measure the radius of planets transiting bright stars

to 10% accuracy (Earth-like: 15 ppm)

Targets Known exoplanet host stars with a V-magnitude < 12.5

anywhere on the sky

Instrument 33 cm reflective on-axis telescope

Detector 13 µm pixel 1k x 1k CCD (baseline: e2v CCD47-20 AIMO)

Orbit type LEO sun-synchronous 6am-6pm, 800 km

Mission Duration 3.5 years

ESA Program S-class mission

Expected Launch date 2017

Total dry mass 198 kg

Total instrument mass 65 kg

MaingoalsoftheCHEOPSprojectandcharacteristicsofthespacecraft

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CourtesyK.Ghose,EPFL-LMTS.

Education

A new tool to calculate the orientation of asatellite

Eachyear,tensofstudentscarryoutprojectsattheSwissSpaceCenter.2012wasmarkedbythelaunchedofanexperimentdevel-opedatEPFLon-boardanESAsoundingrocket.

TheGravityGradientEarthSensor(GGES)experimentisaprojectsupportedbytheEPFLLMTS(MicrosystemsforSpaceTechnolo-giesLaboratory)andtheSwissSpaceCenter,whichaimstotesttheoperationoftheEarthSensorsinmicrogravityconditions.Theproject was initiated in October 2010 and culminated with thelaunchoftheexperimentontheREXUS11soundingrocketfromEsrangeSpaceCenter,Sweden,inNovember2012aspartoftheREXUS/BEXUSprogramme.TheGGESexperimentisthefirsttestofanovelattitudedeterminationsensorinfreefall,whichutilizestheEarth’sgravitygradientasareference.

The sensor principle is based on the use of a device that canmeasuretheGravityGradientTorque(GGT)[3].TheMEMSsensorconsistsofanelongatedproofmasssuspendedbytwoverycom-pliantsprings.InEarthorbit,theGGTontheproofmassdependsontheanglebetweenthelongitudinalaxisoftheproofmassandthenadir.BymeasuringthedisplacementoftheproofmassduetoGGT,theangle,andthereforeattitude,canbedeterminedforLEOorbits.

Theexperimentisconstructedwithinacubesat-sizedframe.Itin-cludesatotaloffourMicroElectroMechanicalSystem(MEMS)independent Earth sensors, providing redundant pitch and rollmeasurements.Asinglepowerandcommunicationsboardpro-videstheinterfacebetweenthetwoboardsandtheexternalrock-etpowerandtelemetryservicemodule.Initscurrentdesign,theexperimenthasnobatteriesandreliesonexternalpowertooper-ate.Ithasamassofapproximately830g,andconsumes2.8Wofpowerfora28Vsupplyandhasanoutputdatarateof12Kbit/s.

OfthefourMEMSsensors,threesurvivedlaunchandonefunc-tionednominallyduringfreefall.Analysisison-goingtodeterminethe displacement due to GGT, since the motion of the MEMSproofmassisasumoftheeffectofGGTandpayloadtumble.WeobservethatthepredicteddisplacementoftheproofmassduetoaccelerationandangularvelocityofthepayloadinfreefallshowsacorrelationtotherecordedchangeincapacitanceduetomotionoftheMEMSproofmass.

3Dartist renderingof theCHEOPSsatellite,basedon the2012studyat theESA’sConcurrentDesignFacility.

Exampleofanobservedtransit.

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“ Mesure de Positionnement ”

To promote innovative ideas and new products related to the space sector

Thefirstcallforproposals“TofosterandpromoteSwissscientificandtechnicalcompetencesrelatedtospaceactivities”issuedbytheSwissSpaceOfficeoftheStatesecretariatforEducation,Re-searchand InnovationSERI/SSO in2010under theprogramme“Mesure de Positionnement” was concluded in February 2012withthepublicpresentationofthestudiesfunded.Thiseventwasheld at EPFL on February 24th with more than 100 participantsfrom theSwissspacecommunity, theEuropeanSpaceAgencyandtheindustrialprimes(AstriumandThalesAleniaSpace).

SpaceTechnologiesStudies2010atEPFLwiththeparticipationofFrancoOngaro(ESAD/TEC).

MdP2010activities.

Followingthisfirstcall,theSwissSpaceCenterhasbeenentrust-Followingthisfirstcall,theSwissSpaceCenterhasbeenentrust-edagainbytheSERI/SSOtoimplementasecondcallforpropos-alsbasedonthesamerules,withthesameobjective:“TofosterandpromoteSwissscientificandtechnologicalcompetencesre-latedtospaceactivities”.OnApril30th,24newproposalswerereceivedandwentthroughthetechnicalevaluationasdefinedinthe“Guidelinesonpositioningmeasureproposalsforspacepro-gramme”.

AttheendofSeptember,theSERI/SSOcommunicateditsdeci-siontofund12studiesinvolving22Swissentities.

Entitiesinvolvedinthe“Mesuredepositionnement”call2012.

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Promotion of space

Space Technology Summer Camp in Moscow

IntheframeworkofagreementbetweenBaumannMoscowStateUniversity(BMSTU)andtheEPFL,theSwissSpaceCenterhostedagroupof10studentsandprofessorsinMay2012foraworkshopontechnicalspeaking,organisedjointlywithEPFLhumanresources.Asusualnowsince2008,agroupofSwissstudents(8fromEPFLand 2 from ETHZ) visited the Space Technology Summer CamporganisedbyBMSTUinJuly.

Odyssée exhibition at “ Foire du Valais ”

InOctober,theSwissSpaceCenterparticipatedintheexhibition“Odyssée”organisedduringthe“FoireduValais”inMartigny.Itwasestimatedthatonethirdof200’000visitorswenttotheex-

BMSTU2012participants.

Concurrentdesigntrainingcourse.

SwissSpaceCenterexhibitionat“FoireduValais”.

Concurrent design training course

InSeptember,theSwissSpaceCenterorganisedatrainingcourseentitled “Introduction to Concurrent design and engineering”.This2-daycourse,opentoall theSwissspacecommunity,wasattendedbytenpeople.Theobjectiveswere:

“ Attendees will learn what Concurrent Design (CD) is and what its benefits are for their company. This course will also emphasize where this technology fits in the overall product development. Through hands-on exercises, the attendee will experience the CD process and the CD supporting tools. This hands-on tutorial will help the attendees to translate the theoretical description of CD in a practical example, using a subject easily translatable to their own field of interest and their company products. ”

hibitiondedicatedtoSpace.Therefore,about70’000peoplesawtheSwissSpaceCenteranimations,andweremadeawareofthespacedebrisproblematic,theprojectsoftheCenteranditsmis-sionsalongsideotherSwissspacestakeholderssuchasUniver-sityofBernandRUAGSpaceandprestigiousspaceobjectsfromNASAandESA.SpecialguestsincludedProf.ClaudeNicollierandCharlieDuke,respectivelyESAandNASAAstronauts.

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Visit to Beihang University in Beijing

TheSwissSpaceCenterattendedfromNovember6,tillNovem-ber9,aseriesofmeetingwithprofessorsfromBeihangUniver-sity (Beijing),aswellas the“2012BeijingSpaceSustainabilityConference”.TheobjectivesofthemeetingsatBeihangUniver-sityweretostartexchangesatatechnicallevelanddiscussthepossibilitiesforasummerschoolexchange.

TheBeihangUniverstiy (BUAA)was founded in1952andwasChina’s first university focused on aeronautical and astronauti-calengineeringandacademic research.Nowadays, itholds26schoolsinmanydisciplinessuchassciences,engineering,eco-nomics, management, humanities, law, philosophy, education,medicineandart.Outof the26schools, laboratoriesfromtwoschoolswerevisited:theSchoolofAstronauticsandtheSchoolofInstrumentScienceandOptoelectronicsEngineering.

VolkerGassreceivingthecommemorativeflaghavingflown444daysinspacecelebratingthe60thanniversaryofIAF.

Prof.Huang’sgroupfromtheSchoolofAstronauticswithMurielRichard,Sen-iorengineerandDeputyDirectorortheSwissSpaceCenter

2012SpaceSustainabilityConferenceinBeijing,organisedbyBeihangUniversity.

IAF conference in Naples

TheSwissSpaceCenterrepresentedEPFLatIAF(InternationalAs-tronauticalFederation)congress inNaples(Italy) fromOctober1stto5th.Prof.GasswasnominatedmemberoftheSpaceUniversityAdvisoryCommittee(SUAC).Thiseventwasattendedby3300peo-plefromallovertheworld.160technicalsessionswerepresented,8plenaryevents,3highlightlecturesand3latebreakingnews.

TheSwissSpaceCenterwasinvitedtopresenttheCleanSpaceOne project at the “2012 Beijing Space Sustainability Confer-ence”.Thisconferencewasco-organisedbyBeihangUniversity,SecureWorldFoundationandtheInternationalSpaceUniversity.ItbelongstoaseriesofSpaceSustainabilityConferences,mostlyfunded by the Secure World Foundation. This conference cov-eredboth technical and legal/political aspects related to spacedebris.

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Members’ word

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Engineering &

Architecture (HSLU T&A) signed a two-year cooperation agree-

ment as an academic partner in the network of the Swiss Space

Centre (SSC) of the EPFL. The technically challenging projects

conducted by the SSC together with students are well in line with

the practical Bachelor Engineering education at HSLU T&A. The

successful participation in the on-going project CubETH is an ex-

cellent example which is being used as a fascinating showcase for

potential future students. We are also convinced that the various

centres of excellence at HSLU T&A will be able to bring skills which

are complementary to the other academic institutions and which

will prove valuable to industrial partners in future joint projects.

“ At Constellium innovation has always been at the core of our

business. And amongst many markets where advanced tech-

nology is critical, Space has always been amongst the leading

sectors.

Therefore Space is and will continue to be an important field for

us, where we can push the boundaries of our aluminium solu-

tions to perhaps the most demanding environment.

As we expand our aerospace manufacturing capabilities to our

plant in Sierre, Valais, it is paramount for us to interact as much

as possible with the Swiss space industry. In this context, the

Swiss Space Center is an excellent platform for Constellium. ”

Marcel JossProfessor

HES-Luzern

Bruno MuccioloGlobalMarketingManager

Constellium

Formoreinformation

contact:

Swiss Space Center

EPFL,Station11

1015Lausanne

Tel.:+41(0)216936948

http://space.epfl.ch