Microsatellite cluster: Difference between revisions
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A [[microsatellite cluster]] is a set of small satellites that cooperate, measuring phenomena from precise position some number of kilometers apart, to collect information from the earth's surface. The most common application has been direction-finding for [[electronic intelligence]]. It is one technique to get, much less expensively, the equivalent of sensors with extremely large collecting apertures. A group of sensors, which are positioned precisely with respect to one another, has the potential to approximate an aperture equivalent to a circle drawn around the outermost satellites. As is done on earth, with systems of telescopes using the principle of '''very long baseline interferometry''', the clusters also can correct for inaccuracies by using observations from multiple points in their orbit. In a sense, this is the reverse of [[radar#synthetic aperture radar|synthetic aperture radar]], which takes multiple observations along the flight path of an airplane and combines them into an image equivalent to a sensor whose dimensions are equivalent to the distance between the starting and ending measurement positions. | A [[microsatellite cluster]] is a set of small satellites that cooperate, measuring phenomena from precise position some number of kilometers apart, to collect information from the earth's surface. The most common application has been direction-finding for [[electronic intelligence]]. It is one technique to get, much less expensively, the equivalent of sensors with extremely large collecting apertures. A group of sensors, which are positioned precisely with respect to one another, has the potential to approximate an aperture equivalent to a circle drawn around the outermost satellites. As is done on earth, with systems of telescopes using the principle of '''very long baseline interferometry''', the clusters also can correct for inaccuracies by using observations from multiple points in their orbit. In a sense, this is the reverse of [[radar#synthetic aperture radar|synthetic aperture radar]], which takes multiple observations along the flight path of an airplane and combines them into an image equivalent to a sensor whose dimensions are equivalent to the distance between the starting and ending measurement positions. | ||
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| date = July 1996 }}</ref> Reducing size of the satellites themselves would reduce the cost of launching as well. Lower overall cost would, in turn, give the opportunity to have more payloads in orbit or that could quickly be orbited, increasing flexibility of deployment. | | date = July 1996 }}</ref> Reducing size of the satellites themselves would reduce the cost of launching as well. Lower overall cost would, in turn, give the opportunity to have more payloads in orbit or that could quickly be orbited, increasing flexibility of deployment. | ||
France operates constellations of | France operates constellations of Essaim ("Swarm") experimental ELINT satellites.<ref>{{Citation | ||
| author = McDowell, Jonathan | | author = McDowell, Jonathan | ||
| title = Jonathan's Space Report No. 541: Helios 2 | | title = Jonathan's Space Report No. 541: Helios 2 | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
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Latest revision as of 06:00, 19 September 2024
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 A microsatellite cluster is a set of small satellites that cooperate, measuring phenomena from precise position some number of kilometers apart, to collect information from the earth's surface. The most common application has been direction-finding for electronic intelligence. It is one technique to get, much less expensively, the equivalent of sensors with extremely large collecting apertures. A group of sensors, which are positioned precisely with respect to one another, has the potential to approximate an aperture equivalent to a circle drawn around the outermost satellites. As is done on earth, with systems of telescopes using the principle of very long baseline interferometry, the clusters also can correct for inaccuracies by using observations from multiple points in their orbit. In a sense, this is the reverse of synthetic aperture radar, which takes multiple observations along the flight path of an airplane and combines them into an image equivalent to a sensor whose dimensions are equivalent to the distance between the starting and ending measurement positions. During the Cold War, the United States Navy WHITE CLOUD satellite system was made up of four sets of three "daughter" and one "mother" satellite. Also called PARCAE, after the daughters of Zeus and three daughters of Zeus and the goddess Themida,
While the exact status is not known, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office has been evaluating the cluster technique.[2] Reducing size of the satellites themselves would reduce the cost of launching as well. Lower overall cost would, in turn, give the opportunity to have more payloads in orbit or that could quickly be orbited, increasing flexibility of deployment. France operates constellations of Essaim ("Swarm") experimental ELINT satellites.[3][4] References
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