Small satellite mission concepts for Mars exploration
Abstract
Small satellite missions offer a compelling strategy for enabling frequent, focused science investigations of Mars at a small fraction of a Discovery mission cost cap. The rapid miniaturization of spacecraft subsystems, driven by the emerging cubesat and smallsat markets, combined with new low-cost launch options - including piggyback rides on planetary missions, ride-share opportunities on commercial Earth orbiter launches, and new small launch vehicle providers, can radically change the price point for achieving key science investigations at Mars, including both orbital and landed mission concepts. These capabilities can offer an opportunity to pursue important new science at Mars at low incremental cost, in parallel with a potential Mars Sample Return campaign, and could open up avenues for new space-faring nations to engage in Mars exploration. In the wake of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) mission [1], which demonstrated the capability of very small spacecraft to operate successfully in deep space by delivering two 6U cubesats to fly by Mars during the InSight Lander's Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) event and relay InSight vehicle telemetry back to Earth throughout its EDL, the Mars Exploration Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is currently exploring a range of more capable Mars small satellite orbiter and lander mission concepts [2], with focused science payloads capable of addressing key science questions tied to MEPAG goals [3]. We survey here a number of Mars smallsat mission concepts illustrating the potential of this new class of low-cost Mars missions, including orbiter concepts that enable enhanced spatiotemporal monitoring of the Mars system, as well as an innovative hard-lander concept capable of deploying a range of surface science payloads, including meteorological ground stations, subsurface water sounders, and trace gas sniffers. We also describe small mission approaches for low-cost delivery of key Mars infrastructure elements, including telecommunications relay satellites offering increased data return from future Mars landers and orbiters, and reconnaissance satellites providing high-resolution imaging for characterizing potential landing sites for future robotic and eventual human missions to Mars. References: [1] Klesh, A. and J. Krajewski, 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 19-23 March, 2018, held at The Woodlands, Texas LPI Contribution No. 2083, id.2923. [2] N. Barba et al., "Mars Small Spacecraft Studies: Overview," 2019 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 2019, pp. 1-10. [3] MEPAG (2018), Mars Scientific Goals, Objectives, Investigations, and Priorities: 2018. D. Banfield, ed., https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports.cfm.
- Publication:
-
43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 28 January - 4 February
- Pub Date:
- January 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021cosp...43E.412E