Design of small satellite constellations for data communication

Constellations of satellites, in particular using small satellites, are very popular nowadays, because they give reduced costs and flexibility to missions. This paper considers the problem of designing a constellation of small satellites for data communication, which means getting data from platforms fixed on the surface of the Earth and sending them to ground stations using satellites. The goal is to maximize the observation times and minimize the interval between passages by these platforms and ground stations. The time evolution of the constellation under the effects of perturbation forces is also studied, and estimates of the number of new satellites that need to be added to the constellation to keep a constraint of maximum revisit time below one hour are made. After that, simulations of satellite failures allow verification of the new values for the observation times and the time between visits when the constellation loses some satellites, looking for the possibility of using this constellation even in case of failures.