1. Alfven – Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Connection Explorers
Student: Viktor Doychinov
UCL Department of Space & Climate Physics, MS Space Science & Engineering.
Abstract
Alfven – Magnetosphere Ionosphere Connection
explorers is a proposal, submitted in response to
European Space Agency call for a Medium-sized
mission. It will be a multi-spacecraft mission,
addressing the question “How do the aurora work?”.
The mission will consist of a pair of cylindrical spin-
stabilised spacecraft, carrying a suite of 11 instruments,
orbiting the Earth on two Reference Orbits.
Scientific objectives
The following areas will be addressed by Alfven-
MICE:
- Large scale particle acceleration along magnetic field
lines
- Small-scale particle acceleration along magnetic field
lines
- Radiation associated with electron acceleration: the
Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR)
- Ionospheric ion outflows
Project aims and objectives
The project was mainly concerned with
performing a critical analysis of the proposal and
identifying areas that could be improved. As a result, a
draft design of the power, communication, OBDH and
attitude control subsystems has been proposed.
Furthermore, an alternative scenario with three
satellites has been investigated.
London, 2011
Supervisor: Prof Andrew Fazakerley
Fig. 1 Main
satellites in
conjunction
with
PhotoSatellite
over Auroral
Oval
Fig. 2 Main
satellite model
shown with
projected
Field-of-View
of Auroral
Imager and Ion
Electrostatic
Analyzer
Instrument
Fig. 3 Main
satellites in
Reference
Orbit 1 –
Perigee 500
km
Apogee 4000
km
Communication subsystem design
results
Frequency band: S band
Maximum bitrates:
4 Mbps (Kiruna station)
2 Mbps (Perth station)
EIRP required: 6 dBW (4W)
Error-correction encoding used
BCH for uplink
Reed-Solomon + convolutional for
downlink
Using SSTL equipment, 3 kg mass
required, 23 W power requirement
Power subsystem design results
Triple Junction Solar Cells used,
average efficiency 30%
4.4 m2 area required, mass of 22 kg
Alternative scenario results
Additional, small-sized PhotoSatellite
offers between 2 and 23 hours
coverage of the Auroral Oval in
conjunction with main Alfven-MICE
satellites