Data Relay Satellite System for Moon Exploration
Jun-ichi Moriuma, Korehiro Maeda · International Aerospace Congress 1995: Proceedings; Second Pacific International Conference on Aerospace and Technology; Sixth Australian Aeronautical Conference · 1995
In the next century, moon exploration missions such as scientific research, observation, resource survey will be more active. It is expected that large amount of data will be transmitted from the moon (or around the moon) to the earth or vice versa. Needless to say, the moon is more distant than ordinary satellite orbits from the earth, so it is more difficult to realize proper link budget. Then, we propose a concept of 'Lunar Data Relay Satellite System (LDRSS)' which provides a communication link between earth stations and spacecraft around the moon via data relay satellite in order to support high data transmission and to expand visible areas. In this paper, some results on LDRSS conceptual study are presented.