A MODULAR SATELLITE BUS FOR THE ROMOLO AND REMO DUAL LIGHTSAT MAGNETOSPHERE ANALYSIS MISSION

A dual lightsat scientific mission has been proposed which makes use o f twin satellites, ''Romolo'' and ''Remo'', in 800 km circular orbits at an inclination of 60 degrees to measure various properties of the E arth's conjugate regions simultaneously. The twin spacecraft each have a launch mass of approximately 350 kg. A single dual launch of the tw in Romolo and Remo spacecraft using a small launcher is enabled by ado pting a novel drift strategy which is used to achieve the desired righ t ascension of the ascending node (RAAN) separation of 180 degrees bet ween the satellites. The twin Romolo and Remo satellites will be based on the commercial Standard Bus (STB), a BPD/CTA joint design based on the use of CTA lightsat hardware. The BPD/CTA collaboration began in early 1994 and has resulted in a modular STB design which utilizes a 3 -axis stabilized platform and can accommodate payloads of up to 400 kg . Nominal payload pointing accuracy is +/- 0.1 degrees. The STB design life is 2-3 years in LEO (up to 1100 km) and can accommodate hydrazin e propellant loads of between 0 and 225 kg. Payload power can range up to 500 W and is delivered at 28 +/- 4 Vdc. Solar array deployment is optimized for the mission. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd