https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-01918-z
Regular Article
A study on failures in satellites of INPE's BiomeSat constellation
1
Space Mechanics and Control Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227-010, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
2
Small Satellites Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227-010, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
3
Space Systems Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227-010, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
a
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b
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Received:
30
April
2025
Accepted:
1
September
2025
Published online:
9
September
2025
Abstract
The BiomeSat mission consists of a remote sensing mission that is being developed by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and aims to contribute to the provision of data for the planning, monitoring and control of the conditions of Brazilian forests, as well as to assist in the evaluation of degraded and deforested areas. The data will be acquired through an optical imager and a data collection system integrated into a small 8U satellite weighing less than 12 kg, in addition to the important differential of having a 0.8U thruster and a total impulse of 450 Ns. INPE is currently considering the possibility of expanding the BiomeSat mission to a constellation of small satellites that meets the revisit time requirement of up to 5 days, but in this work, 4 days will be considered as a requirement for the revisit time. For this project to be carried out and meet its objectives satisfactorily, several studies are necessary, among them a study on failures in the satellite mission, which is carried out and presented in this work. Furthermore, the work proposes a strategy to detect failures in the constellation's satellites and mitigate the impact on coverage of the Brazilian territory, aiming to ensure that the constellation operates efficiently for 18 months, the time stipulated for the mission's useful life. The studies were conducted based on the modeling of different constellation configurations capable of meeting the objective of covering the Brazilian territory, maintaining a revisit time of less than 4 days. The degradation of these requirements was analyzed through simulations, and, based on the results obtained, a fault detection procedure based on Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) logic was proposed. Failure analysis is essential to maintain the safety and effectiveness of small satellite missions, as it maximizes mission performance, positively influencing the achievement of scientific and operational objectives, in addition to contributing to the maintenance of the constellation and consequently the mission's useful life.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
