Constellation of small quick-launch and self-deorbiting nano-satellites with AIS receivers for global ship traffic monitoring

Since December 2004 the International Maritime Organization's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires that Automatic Identification System (AIS) has to be implemented on all international voyaging ships with gross tonnage of 300 or more tons, and on all passenger ships regardless of size. This stems from the need of collision avoidance, search-and-rescue operations and other maritime purposes. Ground-based AIS receiving station usually cannot cover ships over the horizon, but with space-based AIS signal receivers, the global ship monitoring became possible, providing data service for maritime administrations, cargo liners, and even navies. Since 2007, a number micro-satellites and nano-satellites have been launched for technical demonstration in this respect. However, at present the space-based global AIS data service is not fully operational and international cooperation is limited. In this paper, a constellation of 3 self-deorbiting nano-satellites, with a mass equivalent to 3U cubesats, carrying AIS receivers is proposed to complement the existing systems. The feasible study presented here showed that this mission can be realized at very low cost, and quick-launched. Three other important features of the mission are: international cooperation, making a practical use of smaller nano-satellites and taking the responsibility for deorbiting the satellites at the end of mission. It is also the hope that this mission will become a milestone that marks the maturity of smaller nanosats, and give the "student satellite" projects around the world a new dimension for real application and sustainable business application.