DRAGONSat (Dual RF Astrodynamic GPS Orbital Navigator Satellite) is a pair of nanosatellites that will be demonstrating autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) in low Earth orbit (LEO) for NASA. It will be gathering flight data with a

global positioning system The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS) receiver strictly designed for space applications to gather flight data in the space environment. ARD is the capability of two independent spacecraft to rendezvous in orbit and dock without crew intervention. One DRAGONSat was built by the University of Texas and the other one was built by

Texas A and M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

, the

Space Shuttle Payload Launcher Space is the boundless Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional extent in which Physical body, objects and events have relative position (geometry), position and direction (geometry), direction. In classical physics, physical space is often ...

(SSPL), These satellite projects will rendezvous and dock with each other in space without the benefit of human intervention. DRAGONSat is planned to be an eight-year program with a launch of the satellites approximately every two years. The first three missions will test individual components and subsystems while the final mission will culminate with the successful docking of two satellites. Each mission builds upon the previous mission culminating in a fully autonomous rendezvous and docking mission. Both universities are required to use GPS receivers designed by NASA in order to determine its functionality. One of the objectives is to demonstrate precision real-time navigation capability as well as precision relative navigation between the two satellites.

Operations

DRAGONSat is a pair of two 5 inches x 5 inches x 5 inches satellites which are launched from the

Shuttle The original meaning of the word shuttle is the device used in weaving to carry the weft. By reference to the continual to-and-fro motion associated with that, the term was then applied in transportation and then in other spheres. Thus the word ma ...

orbiter payload bay. Both satellites are built of aluminum with a mass of approximately 7.5 kg. Each picosatellite is covered with

photo-voltaic cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s and will enable a longer active life in orbit. Each satellite also has a

dipole antenna In radio and telecommunications a dipole antenna or doublet is the simplest and most widely used class of antenna. The dipole is any one of a class of antennas producing a radiation pattern approximating that of an elementary electric dipole w ...

and two antennas for the GPS receiver. The satellites are ejected from the SSPL which is located on the payload bay sidewall.

Protocols

Both DRAGONSat are launched together in the Space Shuttle Payload Launcher (SSPL) from the side walls of the orbiter payload bay. They are ejected as a pair and once they are at a safe distance from the Space Shuttle, they will separate and begin the experiment. Data collection will be downlinked to

ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

s for as long as the satellites are able to transmit.

Specifications

:''Section source' ;DRAGONSat-1 "BEVO-1" * Country: USA * Application: Spacecraft docking technology * Operator: University of Texas at Austin * Contractors: University of Texas at Austin * Equipment: DRAGON GPS Receiver * Configuration: 5" cube * Propulsion: none * Lifetime: 3.5 kg * Mass: 5 kg ;DRAGONSat-2 "AggieSat-2" * Country: USA * Application: Spacecraft docking technology * Operator: Texas A&M University * Contractors: Texas A&M University * Equipment: DRAGON GPS Receiver * Configuration: 5" cube * Propulsion: None * Lifetime: 3.5 kg * Mass: 3.5 kg

Launches

STS-127 STS-127 ( ISS assembly flight 2J/A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the twenty-third flight of . The primary purpose of the STS-127 mission was to deliver and install the final two components of t ...

Shuttle On July 30, 2009 STS-127 Flight Day 16 the first pair of DRAGONSats were inserted into orbit. Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' placed them in orbit at 8:35 am EDT. for their multiyear mission to study automatic dockings in space. Deployment occurred over central South America at an altitude of 218 miles.Space Launch News: Crew Departs Shuttle after "Fantastic Mission" , July 31, 2009, Story by Charles Atkeison
/ref>

References

{{Reflist

External links