Mission Analysis for CubeSat Rendezvous and docking operations

Since the first launch in 2003, CubeSats raised in importance on the low-cost mission’s panorama. Widely used to date, not only by universities but also by agencies, due to their versatility and ever-increasing deployment possibilities. This is the context of the ESA Space Riders mission. Space Rider is the first European reusable transportation system, an uncrewed robotic laboratory. After launch on Vega-C, it will stay in low orbit for about two months. Experiments inside its cargo bay will allow benefice research in various scientific fields as well as the possibility to demonstrate and validate technologies for different applications, such as robotics, Earth observation, telecommunication, and Surveillance. At the end of its mission, Space Rider will return to Earth with its payloads and land on a runway to be unloaded and refurbished for another flight. At the end of its mission, Space Rider will, then, re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and land, returning its valuable payload to eager engineers and scientists at the landing site. After minimal refurbishment, it will be ready for its next mission with new payloads and a new mission. SROC (Space Rider Observer Cube) is a 12U mission developed by the Polytechnic of Turin in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency), Tyvak International, and the University of Padua. SROC is expected to be launched as a Space Rider payload at its maiden flight on-board the Vega-C, SROC will serve as an in-orbit demonstrator for rendezvous and docking operating for periods longer than two months in low Earth orbit. At the end of its mission, SROC could be retrieved on-board the Space Rider cargo bay, hence return on Earth. This thesis describes the SROC mission design and analysis in terms of orbit, trajectories, and manoeuvres as they have been developed during Phase B1. The document is intended to support the mission planning prior to launch providing information on mission elements such as the mission geometry, the ground segment, and operations, and complementing the design of the space segment (payload and spacecraft) and the communication architecture. The relationships between mission phases and trajectory segments and manoeuvres are also illustrated. Two mission scenarios are analysed: the Observe & Retrieve mission and the Observe mission. For both scenarios, nominal and off-nominal conditions are considered. The document also lists those requirements that are applicable to the mission design and analysis, including ConOps, Observations, Orbit & Trajectory, and Proximity Operations requirements. Useful information is provided as well for the verification of such high-level requirements. The structure of the document mimics the top-down approach followed to perform the mission design and the mission analysis, starting with the CubeSat deployment from Space Rider MPCB (Multi-Purpose CubeSat Dispenser) up to SROC docking (or disposal) for which a dedicated illumination analysis was performed. In conclusion, Delta-V budgets calculated for all possible SR operative orbits are presented, together with a brief description of the selected SROC mission design baseline.