Team Miles

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Team Miles
Mission typeTechnology demonstration
Websiteteam.miles-space.com
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftTeam Miles
Spacecraft typeCubeSat
Bus6U CubeSat
ManufacturerFluid and Reason, LLC.
Launch mass14 kg (31 lb)
Dimensions10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm
Start of mission
Launch date12 March 2022 (planned)
RocketSLS Block 1
Launch siteKSC, LC-39B
ContractorNASA
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric orbit
Flyby of Moon
Transponders
BandS-band
NASA CubeQuest Challenge
 

Team Miles is a type of nanosatellite called 6U CubeSat that will demonstrate navigation in deep space using innovative plasma thrusters. It will also test a software-defined radio operating in the S-band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. Team Miles will be one of ten CubeSats to be carried with the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft, scheduled to launch in 2022.[1]

Overview[]

Parameter Units/performance
Thrust 5 mN
Specific impulse (Isp) 760 seconds
Impulse 7456 N seconds
Power 22 watts
Wet mass 1.5 kg
Propellant mass 1 kg
Propellant Solid iodine
Thrust:Mass 3.3 mN/kg
Impulse:Power 338 N seconds/watt
Delta-V 12 kg craft 649 m/s

The spacecraft, a 6-Unit CubeSat — measuring 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm — was designed and is being developed by a non-profit group of fifteen citizen scientists and engineers (Fluid and Reason, LLC) based at Tampa, Florida.[2][3][4] Since the Team Miles won the first place at CubeQuest Challenge for the selection process,[5] Fluid and Reason, LLC stroke partnerships and became , a commercial endeavor to further develop the technology and intellectual property that has come out of the design process.[2]

Propulsion[]

Wesley Faler, who leads Fluid and Reason, LLC., is the inventor of the ion thruster to be used, which he calls ConstantQ Model H.[6][2] It is a form of electric propulsion for spacecraft. The engine is a hybrid plasma and laser thruster that uses ionized iodine as propellant.[7][4] The Model H system includes 4 thruster heads which are canted, allowing for both primary propulsion and attitude control (orientation) without the use of moving parts.[6][8] The goal within the CubeQest Challenge is to travel 4 million kilometers, but the team will attempt to go as far as 96 million kilometers before the end of the mission.[2]

Radio[]

The spacecraft will use the USRP B200mini, a software-defined radio operating in the S band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth.[9]

See also[]

The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission
The 3 CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1

References[]

  1. ^ Clark, Stephen (12 October 2021). "Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Cube Quest Challenge Spotlight: Team Miles". Space Daily. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  3. ^ Jennifer Harbaugh (18 May 2017). "Cube Quest Challenge Spotlight: Team Miles". NASA. Retrieved 10 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b Jeremy S. Cook (30 August 2017). "The Miles CubeSat Might Be the Next Satellite Sent to Mars". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Centennial Challenges Program Overview: How NASA Successfully Involves the General Public in the Solving of Current Technology Gaps". Orlando, Florida: AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. 12–14 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b "ConstantQ Spacecraft Propulsion". Fluid and Reason, LLC. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  7. ^ Lloyd Sowers (12 May 2017). "Tampa team enters new Space Race with cube satellite". FOX13 Tampa Bay. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. ^ "ConstantQ™ Thruster". Miles Space. 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  9. ^ Scott Schaire (2018). "Investigation into New Ground Based Communications Service Offerings in Response to SmallSat Trends". 32nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites Document SSC18-SI-07. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
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