Dual Chemical-Electric Propulsion Systems Design for Interplanetary CubeSats

Interplanetary CubeSats enable universities and smallspacecraft- consortia to pursue low-cost, high-risk and highgain Solar System Exploration missions, especially Mars; for which cost-effective, reliable, and flexible space systems need to be developed. Missions to Mars can be achieved through a) in-situ deployment by a mothership and b) highly flexible stand-alone CubeSats on deep-space cruise. The current work focuses on sizing and establishing critical design parameters for dual chemical-electric propulsion systems that shall enable a stand-alone 16U CubeSat mission on a hybrid high-thrust & low-thrust trajectory. High thrust is used to escape Earth whereas low-thrust is used in autonomous deep-space cruise, achieving ballistic capture, and emplacement on an areosynchronous orbit at Mars. Chemical propulsion characterisation is based on V requirement and a heuristic optimisation of thrust, specific impulse and burn time while balancing transfer time and propellant mass. Limitations are set to minimise destabilising momentum. Electric propulsion characterisation is based on the V, power consumption, and trajectory requirements for fueloptimal and time-optimal strategies. The sizes amount to 16% and 21% of the assumed total mass ( 30 kg) for chemical and electric systems, respectively.