Enhanced Distributed Space Systems with Miniature Spacecraft: Spatial Distribution, Collision Analysis and Cooperative Communication

The repertoire of words in the English language to refer to groups of animals is quite fascinating to say the least – a congregation of alligators, an army of ants, a troop of baboons, a pride of lions, a train of camels, a destruction of cats, an intrusion of cockroaches, a mob of emus, a plague of insects, a drift of pigs, and so on. The intention of using such a wide range of terms is to associate an underlying emotion or meaning to the different kinds of groups. Therefore, without knowing much about choughs or goldfinches, one is more likely to appreciate a charm of goldfinches rather than a clattering of choughs. This thesis is about groups of small spacecraft – characterizing them and enhancing them. The aim of this thesis is to enable charms of CubeSats and prides of PocketQubes.