Preliminary Design of the European Advanced Reusable Satellite EARS

Today there is an increased demand to recover payloads from Space. Moreover, environmental concerns are pushing towards reusability of Space Assets. The European Advanced Reusable Satellite (EARS) project aims to tackle both issues by designing a low-cost small spacecraft capable of supporting a variety of small experiments for orbital missions potentially longer than one year. The satellite should be able to operate and return to Earth autonomously, taking advantage of an inflatable drag device and heatshield. After recovery, it should be reused with minimal refurbishment. Moreover, it must be compatible with common launch vehicles secondary payload attachments. The spacecraft is based on a current microsatellite platform with the addition of the heatshield, a powerful and controllable liquid propulsion system, and a recovery system based on a guided parafoil with helicopter mid-air retrieval. This paper explains the philosophy and approach behind the EARS concept and describes the preliminary design of the mission, the spacecraft and its main subsystems.