Abstract
Small Satellites are currently being considered for high resolution (< 2 m) earth observation missions. The paper will examine the main challenges for such a mission. The aim is to design a low cost High Resolution Small Satellite (HRSS) with a mass <150 kg, an average orbit power of 50 W, and a lifetime of 2-5 years using COTS (commercial of the self) components. A trade-off of various technologies is presented including an orbit/propellant mass trade-off and deployable/conventional optics. A preliminary design will be presented and compared to a conventional systems design. Some practical experiments on a deployable telescope will be presented along with other subsystem improvements for near term High resolution small satellite missions.