The use of cubesat swarms is being proposed for different missions where cooperation between satellites is required. Commonly, the cube swarm requires formation flight and even rendezvous and docking, which are very challenging tasks since they required more energy and the use of advanced guidance, navigation and control techniques. In this paper, we propose the use of an extensible hook system to mitigate these drawbacks,i.e. it allows to save fuel and reduce the system complexity by including techniques that have been previously demonstrated on Earth. This system is based on a scissor boom structure, which could reach up to five meters for a 4U dimension, including three degrees of freedom to place the end effector at any pose within the system workspace. We simulated the dynamic behaviour of a cubesat with the proposed system, demonstrating the required power for a 16U cubesat equipped with one extensible hook system is considered acceptable according to the current state of the art actuators.

翻译：立方星集群被提议用于需要卫星间协作的不同任务。通常，立方星集群要求编队飞行甚至交会对接，这些任务极具挑战性，因为所需能量更高，且需采用先进的制导、导航与控制技术。本文提出一种伸缩式挂钩系统以缓解上述难题，即通过引入已在陆地验证的技术，实现节省燃料并降低系统复杂性。该系统基于剪叉式伸展臂结构，在4U尺寸下可伸展至五米，包含三个自由度，能使末端执行器在系统工作空间内到达任意位姿。我们对配备该系统的立方星进行了动力学行为仿真，结果表明，根据当前执行器技术水平，为16U立方星配备一套伸缩式挂钩系统所需功率在可接受范围内。