Proof-of-concept of a federated satellite system between two 6-unit cubeSats for distributed earth observation satellite systems

Abstract

During these years, novel Distributed Satellite Systems (DSS) have addressed the new Earth Observation (EO) requirements (e.g. near-real time access to data, or multi-point observations). One of the DSS proposals is the concept of Federated Satellite System (FSS) which has explored the benefits of sharing available and unused resources between satellite to maximize the system utility. The possibility to use additional downlink opportunities thanks to federations is a resource that could improve current EO missions, and thus achieving the required performance. For that reason, the FSS Experiment payload has been implemented as a FSS proof-of-concept between 6-Unit CubeSats in the FSSCAT mission. This article presents the design, and the test results of this payload demonstrating its feasibility for future EO missions.