The Mission Analysis and System Design of Chang’e-4 Lunar Relay Communication Satellite

Abstract

The relay communication satellite is an important part of Chinese Chang’e-4（CE-4）Lunar farside exploration mission. The relay communication satellite will provide relay communication support for the lander and the rover on the lunar farside. Different from other spacecraft for lunar mission，a Halo orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 liberation point is used to provide continuous communication links to the lander and the rover on the farside of the Moon. A series of challenges have to be faced. Based on the analysis of the mission characteristics and mission requirements，the technical difficulties are identified and solutions for these problems are given，including selection of mission orbit，arriving and maintenance of the mission orbit，the relay communication design trade-off，etc. The system design overview of the CE-4 relay communication satellite is also given in this paper.

Keywords

Chang’e-4 lunar exploration mission / lunar farside / relay communication / Earth-Moon libration point 2 / mission analysis / system design