Prometheus: A low-cost microsatellite flyby mission of 4179 Toutatis

Abstract

An interplanetary small satellite mission is presented in this paper. The mission is to capture a series of images of a near earth object (NEO) and transmit them back to Earth. In this work, a full design and system description of the satellite is presented along with a simple outline of the mission and the expected imagery received. The aim of the design process was to produce a practical, low-cost, small satellite mission with mainly commercial off-the-shelf components and a rapid development schedule. Despite difficult mass and volumetric constraints, the Prometheus team was able to establish that a small microsatellite observation mission for NEOs appears feasible in the near-term. © 2005.