Project SSMS
Significance of The Project:
The incorporation of the principal deck and HEXA of the SSMS at the S5 Payload Handling Office on Walk 12, 2020, is a huge achievement in light of multiple factors:
Numerous Satellites Launch:
Mission: The incorporated framework will be used on the Vega VV16 mission. The system will also be used in the flight of VV23 and will be launched into a solar orbit at an altitude of 560 kilometres.
Capacity: This mission will exhibit the capacity to send off numerous satellites all the while, displaying the effectiveness of the SSMS distributor framework.
Modular SSMS Dispenser:
Plan: The SSMS dispenser is a particular framework intended to be mounted on the upper phase of the Vega rocket.
Adaptability: It upholds a large number of satellite sizes, from 1-kg CubeSats to 400-kg minisatellites, offering extraordinary adaptability in obliging various payloads. Reasonable Send-off Open Doors.
Routine Access: The SSMS plans to give normal and reasonable send-off open doors for light satellites, fundamentally diminishing the expense obstruction for more modest satellite administrators.
Democratization of Room: By empowering savvy dispatches, the SSMS democratizes admittance to space, permitting more associations, including research foundations and business substances, to send their satellites.
Overcoming Limitations:
Current Difficulties: Generally, little satellites, especially the littlest classes like CubeSats, have needed to piggyback on dispatches of bigger satellites. This implies their send-off open doors are restricted and reliant upon the accessibility of extra limits.
Devoted Rides: The SSMS tends to this impediment by giving committed rideshare open doors, guaranteeing that little satellites have more unsurprising and incessant admittance to space.
“The new Vega Small Spacecraft Mission Service switches this into a ‘ride-share’ model, with multiple small satellites being flown together, splitting the launch cost,” commented Giorgio Tumino, managing ESA’s Vega and Space Rider programmes.
Definite Outline of the SSMS Undertaking and its Parts
Lightweight and Rigid Structure
Materials: The significance of SSMS is the lightweight structure of due to very low-density aluminium ‘sandwich’ panels. These panels are protected by carbon fibre-reinforced polymer skins, making the structure both lightweight and rigid.
Main Sections of SSMS:
Hexagonal Lower Section: This section is designed to accommodate up to a dozen CubeSats or six small satellites.
Upper Section: Used for micro, minisatellites, and small satellites. Both sections can be used independently, providing flexibility in mission configurations.
Modular Design
Central Column: The SSMS features a central column, which can be a tower or hexagon, serving as the core structural element.
Supporting Platform: A platform that supports the payloads.
Adjustable Rods and Dividers: These elements can be assembled to suit the specific requirements of each mission, ensuring versatility.
Configuration for the Demonstration Flight
FLEXI-3 Configuration: On account of the demonstration flight, the SSMS uses a configuration called FLEXI-3, which weighs just 330 kg. This setup is designed to prove the technical and financial viability of the rideshare service.
💡Significance of the Demonstration Flight
Technical Viability: The flight aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the SSMS rideshare service, showing that the system can reliably deploy multiple small satellites.
Financial Viability: It also aims to prove the financial viability of the service, making it an affordable option for launching small satellites.
Routine Launch Opportunities: By proving the SSMS’s effectiveness, this flight sets the stage for more routine and affordable launch opportunities for a wide range of satellite sizes, from CubeSats to larger minisatellites.
ESAIL Mission
Main Goal: The ESAIL mission is a joint ESA LuxSpace project with an end goal to expand the checking of oceanic traffic past existing area-based following of Programmed ID Frameworks (AIS) through the method for a variety of microsatellites: SAT-AIS.
Method: This extension is achieved through an array of microsatellites, which are referred to as SAT-AIS, enhancing the global tracking capability for maritime vessels.
Partners
SAB Aerospace in the Czech Republic and Bercella in Italy designed and manufactured this modular dispenser for ESA’s Vega prime contractor Avio.
Collaboration
ESA has collaborated with the European Union, with partial funding for this mission provided through the Horizon 2020 programme. This mission is part of the Contribution Agreement between ESA and the EU on space technology activities, signed on April 16, 2019.
