Laser Communication and Coordination Control of Spacecraft Swarms

Swarms of small spacecraft offer whole new capabilities in Earth observation, global positioning and communications compared to a large monolithic spacecraft. These small spacecrafts can provide bigger apertures that increase gain in communication antennas, increase area coverage or effective resolution of distributed cameras and enable persistent observation of ground or space targets. However, there remain important challenges in operating large number of spacecrafts at once. Current methods would require a large number of ground operators monitor and actively control these spacecrafts which poses challenges in terms of coordination and control which prevents the technology from scaled up in cost-effective manner. Technologies are required to enable one ground operator to manage tens if not hundreds of spacecrafts. We propose to utilize laser beams directed from the ground or from a command and control spacecraft to organize and manage a large swarm. Each satellite in the swarm will have a customized "smart skin" con-taining solar panels, power and control circuitry and an embedded secondary propulsion unit. A secondary propulsion unit may include electrospray pro-pulsion, solar radiation pressure-based system, photonic laser thrusters and Lorentz force thrusters. Solar panels typically occupy the largest surface area on an earth orbiting satellite. A laser beam from another spacecraft or from the ground would interact with solar panels of the spacecraft swarm. The laser beam would be used to select a 'leader' amongst a group of spacecrafts, set parameters for formation-flight, including separation distance, local if-then rules and coordinated changes in attitude and position.