  Swarms of small spacecraft offer whole new capabilities in Earth observation,
global positioning and communications compared to a large monolithic
spacecraft. These small spacecrafts can provide bigger apertures that increase
gain in communication antennas, increase area coverage or effective resolution
of distributed cameras and enable persistent observation of ground or space
targets. However, there remain important challenges in operating large number
of spacecrafts at once. Current methods would require a large number of ground
operators monitor and actively control these spacecrafts which poses challenges
in terms of coordination and control which prevents the technology from scaled
up in cost-effective manner. Technologies are required to enable one ground
operator to manage tens if not hundreds of spacecrafts. We propose to utilize
laser beams directed from the ground or from a command and control spacecraft
to organize and manage a large swarm. Each satellite in the swarm will have a
customized "smart skin" con-taining solar panels, power and control circuitry
and an embedded secondary propulsion unit. A secondary propulsion unit may
include electrospray pro-pulsion, solar radiation pressure-based system,
photonic laser thrusters and Lorentz force thrusters. Solar panels typically
occupy the largest surface area on an earth orbiting satellite. A laser beam
from another spacecraft or from the ground would interact with solar panels of
the spacecraft swarm. The laser beam would be used to select a 'leader' amongst
a group of spacecrafts, set parameters for formation-flight, including
separation distance, local if-then rules and coordinated changes in attitude
and position.
