Using electromagnetic formation flying for remote sensing applications

Many space missions cannot be realized by using a single monolithic satellite. Satellite formation flying is an enabling technology that can realize such space missions especially in the area of remote sensing. Depending on the mission, there is a tight formation keeping requirement that may translate into constant expenditure of fuel. This may make the mission too costly or even infeasible for certain formations if conventional propulsion technologies are used. Electromagnetic formation flying (EMFF) is a novel concept that uses superconducting electromagnetic coils to provide forces and torques between different satellites in a formation that enables the control of all the relative degrees of freedom. With EMFF, the life-span of the mission becomes independent of the fuel available on board. Also the contamination of optics or sensitive formation instruments, due to thruster plumes, is avoided. This paper introduces the concept of EMFF with a focus on remote sensing applications and presents comparison with thrusters to show the viability of using EMFF for a distributed aperture application.