XSS-10 micro-satellite flight demonstration program results

Air Force Research Laboratory's space experiment XSS-10 was flown on the Air Force Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) mission IIR-8 launched on January 29, 2003. The mission objectives of XSS-10 were to demonstrate autonomous navigation, proximity operations, and inspection of a Resident Space Object (RSO). XSS-10 was a 28-kilogram micro-satellite was launched as a secondary mission on a Delta II expendable launch vehicle carrying a GPS satellite. XSS-10 was equipped with a visible camera, a star sensor, and mini SGLS system, all specially built for this program. In addition, a visible camera was attached to the second stage to observe the release of the micro-satellite and observe its maneuvers. Following the release of the GPS satellite, the Delta H initiated three depletion burns to reorient into an 800 KM circular orbit. The XSS-10 was ejected from the Delta II second stage approximately 18 hours after launch. Operating autonomously on a preplanned course, XSS-10 performed its mission of navigating around the Delta II second stage at preplanned positions; the micro-satellite took images of the second stage and send them back to earth in real time. During these demonstrations the XSS-10 mission operations team accomplished responsive checkout of the micro-satellite and all of its subsystems, autonomous navigation on a preplanned course and a variety of algorithms and mission operations that pave the way for more ambitious missions in the future. This paper will discuss the results of the mission and post mission analysis of the XSS-10 space flight.