VIBES: VISIONARY INGENUITY BOOSTING EUROPEAN SPACECRAFT. DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST MICROVIBRATION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

Microvibration refers to mechanical oscillations that are usually originated by moving or rotating parts and propagate through the structure onto sensitive elements of the spacecraft (e.g. optical elements) eventually causing performance degradation during its in-orbit operations. On the one hand, optical satellite missions are subjected to increasingly demanding requirements, e.g., geolocation and image co-registration, image quality; on the other hand, the growing interest in new technologies such as laser and quantum communications require stringent pointing constraints. Hence, managing microvibrations in space has become of paramount importance. The aim of the Visionary Ingenuity Boosting European Spacecraft (VIBES) project is to further increase knowledge about microvibration and develop low-cost solutions based on components off-the shelf (COTS) for managing microvibration through rapid prototyping and testing based on an incremental development approach. The final goal is to develop systems for on ground and in-orbit Microvibration measurements as well as passive and active stabilization strategies. This paper summarizes the current status of the VIBES project. A test bed consisting of a mechanically isolated platform for a satellite structure containing a reaction wheel and a shaker as sources has been developed. A spring isolation system allows to replicate the in-orbit free-free condition showing a noise suppression of two orders of magnitude. A microvibration measurement system (MVMS) has been designed and prototyped showing a noise level of 0.1 mg/(Hz^0.5) in the relevant frequency range between 1 Hz and 1000 Hz. This has enabled the microvibration characterization of a 0.2 Nms reaction wheel. One of the goals of the VIBES project is to utilize the MVMS in orbit to deliver in orbit microvibration data.