European Moon Orbiting Satellite (ESMO)

ESMO Spacecraft

ESMO (European Moon Orbiting Satellite)

Years of Operation: 2005 – 2012

Client – European Space Agency (ESA).

Mission - Moon orbiting satellite carrying multiple scientific payload instruments. WUSAT was the primary Electrical Power Supply (EPS) subsystem team.

Partners - Prime contractor – Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Included 21 sub-system partners from around Europe

ESA Links - ESA website links to information on the ESMO mission can be found hereLink opens in a new window

Mission Objectives

• To conceive the first lunar spacecraft to be designed by students across ESA Member States and ESA Cooperating States.

• To design a spacecraft to be placed in a lunar orbit using an on-board chemical propulsion system that can transfer the spacecraft from its initial Earth orbit to a polar orbit around the Moon via the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point.

• To design a payload able to acquire medium-resolution images of the Moon's surface using a 2.5 kg narrow angle camera from a stable lunar orbit.

• To conceive new measurements relevant to advanced technology demonstration, lunar science and exploration - to include, a small radar payload, a radiation monitor, a 2.5kg passive microwave radiometer (temperature of the regolith a few metres below the surface), and a telecommunication experiment to test a lunar internet protocol.

A poster showing typical activities of the WUSAT ESMO teams can be seen hereLink opens in a new window.

Details of WUSAT Team Members (in year order) that worked on ESMO can be seen below.

A video of the ESMO Mission Concept (courtesy Univ of Ljubljana) can be seen here

ESMO Concept

2006-7 WUSAT/ESMO Team

Image (right) shows work on,

OBDH - On-Board Data Handling

AOCS - Attitude & Orbit Control System

Comms - RF Communication System

Chemical Engine (Rocket) - For Transfer to Moon orbit

Harness - Wiring Harness and Interconnect arrangements

2006-7 ESMO Work Areas

(Note: Some early images are not best quality)

2007-8 WUSAT/ESMO Team

2007-8 WUSAT/ESMO Work

A feasibility study carried out as part of Phase A of the project (Feasibility + Sub-system requirements, Concept of Operations) was submitted to the European Space Agency for review.

The objectives for Phase B were agreed with ESA as,

• Complete a detailed design of the Electrical Power System for ESMO.
• Simulation of electronic systems including photovoltaic arrays and batteries.
• Simulation of CAD model with of physical implementation with stress and thermal analysis.
• Construction and testing of a system prototype.

2008-9 WUSAT/ESMO Team

2008-9 WUSAT/ESMO Members

2008-9 Team (L toR)

Mukunth Kovaichelvan, Robert Clements, Jez Banks,

Paul Hobden, Dr Angus Bryant, Ben Donnellan, Nick Ellison,

Alison Sanders, Claire Parfitt (PhD), Dr Bill Crofts, Tom Grandjean

2009-10 WUSAT/ESMO Team

2009-10 WUSAT/ESMO Activities

• Regular Teleconferences with Prime Contractor, Surrey Satellite Ltd, and other European University sub-system teams.
• Attendance at European Space Agency training event held at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOCLink opens in a new window), Darmstadt.
• Progressed the development of System Architecture, Solar Cells, Battery design, and Power Conditioning & Distribution Unit. The latter included a trade-off between S³R and Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) architectures.

2010-11 WUSAT/ESMO Team

2010-11 WUSAT/ESMO Activities

The 2010-11 WUSAT/ESMO team (shown left) are -

(L-R) - Will Platts, Adam Lord, Felicity Kendrick, Louise Waters, James McIntosh, Dr Bill Crofts, Andre Thunot, Oliver Sedden and Mark Dooner.

Their excellent work in progressing the development of the ESMO Electrical Power Supply sub-system can be seen here (PosterLink opens in a new window).

2011-12 WUSAT/ESMO Team

2011-12 WUSAT/ESMO Activities

Detailed design implementation of;

• Solar Panel Structure + Thermal Analysis
• Power Condition & Distribution Unit
  • FPGA Functionality
  • Solar Array Regulation (MPPT)
  • Output Protection Systems (Current Limiters, etc)
• Battery Structure and Battery Management Unit.

A detailed poster of their work can be seen hereLink opens in a new window.

Final handover to the European Space Agency included,

• Completion of Phase A Feasibility Study
• Completion and Pass of Phase B, Preliminary Design Review.