AsteroidSQUADS/iSSB - a synergetic NEO Deflection Campaign and Mitigation Effects Test Mission Scenario

Abstract

The mission scenario AsteroidSQUADS/iSSB was developed in response to several of the Recommendations from the 1st IAA Planetary Defense Conference which addressed the need for deflection-related testing and campaign design, studies of momentum transfer in impulsive deflection techniques, and the development of protocols and responsibilities within existing space situational awareness and civil defence infrastructures on a global scale. Several more recommendations put dangerous objects smaller than the current threshold definition for Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHO) in focus. Throughout, the need for increased international participation was emphasized. AsteroidSQUADS/iSSB is intended to enable Serendipitous Quantitative Understanding and Assessment of Deflection Strategies. The advantages and efficiency of modern small-satellite-derived design philosophies evolved and improved for interplanetary spaceflight are highlighted by using the DLR Kompaktsatellit programme's Standard Satellite Bus kit as a study baseline. This spacecraft platform draws strongly on the experiences gained and lessons learned from the DLR small satellites BIRD and TET. It also has been the baseline of choice in many studies at DLR's Bremen Concurrent Engineering Facility, and it is currently used for the AsteroidFinder spacecraft under development. A number of circumstances in today's commercial and scientific spaceflight environment are on their own widely regarded as detrimental or unpleasant situations: For some time now, an uneasy struggle has developed between the test flight requirements of the heavy launch vehicle sector, related costs and risks, commercial and schedule pressures, public relations and insurance contracting concerns, and the choice and motivation of payloads for such development flights. Also, realistic testing in particular of geostationary payload launch vehicles carries a significant risk of polluting the most vital regions of Earth-orbital space with large targets that invite the escalation of space debris collisional cascading (Kessler syndrome). In the planetary science sector, it has always been difficult to obtain funding for missions towards less prestigious target objects in the solar system. For most such missions, target selection was severely constrained by the need to cover as many fields of science as possible within the given launch budget. Resulting spacecraft designs push the launcher performance limit and require gravity-assists from the nearest planets. Accordingly, rather small probes experience extended interplanetary cruise phases, causing high radiation doses on sensitive components and high operational cost. In planetary defence, with few exceptions, lesson-learning has so far been restricted to paper exercises. Though NEO surveys have generally made good progress given the resources assigned, even the basic methods of deflection are hardly explored beyond lab experiments. The AsteroidSQUADS/iSSB mission scenario seeks to benefit from several opportunities which are presented by these situations when their mere co-existence is turned into a synergetic advantage for all potential participants, including all branches of the planetary defence community. It employs a flotilla of simple multi-role spacecraft directed at a suitable sub-PHO size practice target for a brief but intense integrated deflection campaign exercise in real space.