Presentation Synopsis:
Elliot Hastings
Rhea Space Activity
Elliott Hastings is a quantum physicist at Rhea Space Activity. His current role is focused on developing innovative secure communications solutions and capabilities for government customers. As part of the RSA team, he has also had exposure to the challenges of navigation and communication in novel, challenging environments. In the past, Elliott has worked on several UK-based CubeSat missions for quantum communications.
“PicoSats for Cislunar Defence Applications”
E. M. J. Hastings1, M. J. Wilson1, J. Baumann1, M. Brethower1, R. J. Thompson1, S. Benitez1, C. Dinelli1, C. Lance1, S. Usman1
1 Rhea Space Activity Inc.
The problem of asymmetric warfare requires that nations worldwide ensure their space systems are resilient to disruption from adversaries ranging from nation states to individual threat actors. The result of this is a push within defence and intelligence communities to design smaller, cheaper, and more expendable satellites. PicoSatellites are the smallest, cheapest, and most flexible class of spacecraft capable of carrying sufficiently complex payloads. PicoSat and CubeSat platforms pose a difficult challenge for engineers within the defence sector. Namely, designing systems with PicoSat-compatible SWaP that can still provide the high performance typically required is not trivial. Performance challenges include high resolution imaging, high data-rate secure communication, and high sensitivity to a range of physical stimuli. Conversely, defence agencies provide ample interesting contexts and difficult challenges for PicoSat (and CubeSat) engineers to engage with. For example, the emerging field of lunar intelligence (LUNINT) uses systems in cislunar space to gather intelligence. Cislunar spacecraft are subject to high doses of radiation and are required to navigate along complex trajectories without GPS. Near-term PicoSats are not likely to meet the harsh challenges posed by cislunar space. However, individual (sub)systems designed for, or tested on, PicoSats with these problems in mind can provide tangible benefits in commercial and defence contexts. In this talk, we present directions for future PicoSat missions we believe will encourage mutually beneficial collaboration between the defence industry, and PicoSat providers. We focus on mission concepts, use-cases, and engineering challenges in defence-relevant technologies including GPS-denied navigation and secure communications.
