Design of a micro-satellite for precise formation flying demonstration

This paper presents a joint CNES-EADS Astrium contribution to the ESA's SMART-2 project. SMART-2, 2nd mission of the Satellite Missions for Advanced Research and Technology program, slated for launch in 2006, will test key technologies needed to develop two ambitious ESA missions: center dot LISA (Laser Interferometry Space Antenna), an ESA cornerstone mission dedicated to the detection and observation of gravitational waves; to be launched in 2011, center dot DARWIN, another ESA cornerstone mission dedicated to the search of Earth-like planets; to be launched in 2015. In Phase A study of this demonstrator, one of the options contemplated by ESA was considering two formation-flying satellites. In that sense, and in order to both reduce and share cost, CNES proposed with the technical support of EADS-Astrium, to build one of them from its Myriade micro-satellite product line, mainly used for LEO scientific applications. The study carried out has permitted to validate the concept of using a low-cost micro-satellite in a scientific interplanetary mission requiring not more than 10 mu m inter-satellite position accuracy! (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.