A low-cost earth-moon-mars mission using a microsatellite platform

The paper presents the preliminary results of a space exploration mission designed by GAUSS Srl, aiming at performing, for the first time ever, the exploration of the Moon and Mars using a microsatellite platform. Microsatellites offer advantages over larger “traditional” spacecraft, such as reduced development time and cost, but they also set several challenges when considering space exploration missions. In fact, their limited volume and mass directly translates into strict power and thrusting constraints, and traditional maneuvers required by interplanetary transfers are often impractical. A solution to this issue is proposed in this paper and consists in taking advantage of the chaotic behavior in multi-body systems to transfer a microsatellite of the UNISAT class from the Earth, to the Moon and then to Mars. The mission is compatible with available rideshares in which the microsatellite is deployed along a highly eccentric orbit around the Earth, whose apogee crosses the orbit of the Moon. From the mentioned deployment conditions, a lunar capture is established, injecting the microsatellite into a chaotic orbit governed by the combined gravitational forces of the Sun, Earth and Moon. If the Keplerian energy at capture is adequately selected, the perturbations acting in the Sun-Earth-Moon system can lead the spacecraft to experience a gravity assist by the Moon and, eventually, by the Earth, at a time when the relative position of the Earth and Mars is suitable to allow a transfer between the two planets. Consequently, the microsatellite is transferred and captured at Mars, where two 3U CubeSats are deployed. The overall mission architecture and design techniques are discussed and verified by means of numerical analyses. A selection of on-board systems currently on the market and compatible with the resulting mission profile is proposed. The availability of launch opportunities and the need for on-ground services necessary to support the mission is investigated. All these elements are finally examined to outline a risk management plan and to define a suitable budget for the mission, showing that deep space exploration using microsatellites is a real option for current space programs.