MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • MIT Open Access Articles
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

A General Purpose Astronomy Small Satellite: An approach to low-cost space telescope design using space-qualified ground telescopes

Author(s)
Bosanac, Natasha; Do, Sydney; Wen, Hui Ying; Wicht, Anthony Charles
Thumbnail
DownloadBosanac-2010-A General Purpose Astronomy Small Satellite An approach to low-cost space telescope design using space-qualified ground telescopes.pdf (447.4Kb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY

Publisher Policy

Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.

Terms of use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
The General Purpose Astronomy - Small Satellite (GPA-SS) project studied the feasibility of developing a useful space telescope with a cost to launch below $100 million. An optical telescope assembly (OTA) designed for ground use is proposed for use in a space mission in order to take advantage of the economies of scale in existing mirror fabrication processes. This paper details the additional design, manufacture and test tasks required to flight-qualify the ground telescope. A near-infrared imaging space telescope was costed as a potential mission. Key subsystems were designed at a conceptual level. This design was used both to estimate subsystem costs and to inform the science achievable from a given telescope design. Subsystem costs were estimated from the design through a combination of previously published cost estimating relationships and vendor quotes. This paper concludes that the space-qualification of an existing ground telescope is a potential approach for making significant cost savings when designing a low cost space telescope. Additional work on design and cost estimation around the framework presented in this paper could be undertaken to add certainty to the cost estimate.
Date issued
2010-07
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61370
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Journal
Proceedings of SPIE--the International Society for Optical Engineering
Publisher
SPIE
Citation
Natasha Bosanac, Sydney Do, Hui Ying Wen and Anthony Wicht, "A general purpose astronomy small satellite: an approach to low-cost space telescope design using space-qualified ground telescopes", Proc. SPIE 7731, 77311P (2010); doi:10.1117/12.858018 © 2010 SPIE
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0277-786X

Collections
  • MIT Open Access Articles

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.