Abstract: To evaluate small reconnaissance satellite constellation′s performance, some performance indexes were studied from three aspects: coverage, cost and flexibility. The coverage capability evaluation model, cost estimation model and flexibility capability evaluation model were built. In the coverage capability evaluation model, satellite storage capacity was taken as a constraint condition, satellite working conditions were analyzed by combining with the satellite coverage geometry model, and a calculation method of coverage indexes considering satellite storage capacity was proposed. The cost of each subsystem of constellations was estimated by the small satellite cost model(SSCM). In the flexibility evaluation model, the performance loss rate was proposed, and the weight of performance loss rate was determined according to the probability function of failure states. Applying the models to the performance evaluation of SkySat and Jinlin No.1 (JL-1) constellation, the results show that SkySat constellation has stronger coverage ability, lower cost and poorer flexibility than those in JL-1. The above models proposed in this paper can be used to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of constellations and provide references for the construction and performance evaluation of small reconnaissance satellite constellation.

Key words: small satellite constellation, performance evaluation, gridpoint method, cost estimation, flexibility