Architecture and systems design of a reusable Martian twin rotor tailsitter

A rapidly developing field is that of tailsitters, aircraft capable of transitioning between horizontal and vertical flight, a premise that supports a diverse range of applications. Tailsitters can effortlessly land and hover at will, yet can also move at high speed between destinations making them ideal in undertaking ‘multiple missions to land at multiple destinations far apart’.This paper considers how the concept of twin helicopter rotor tailsitters, such as QinetiQ's Eye-OnTM, can be adapted for use in a Martian environment. The mission architecture and system requirements for both reusable and single-use tailsitters are considered and 12 disparate subsystems or fields (including propulsion, power and aerodynamics) are designed using a high-level systems approach. The resulting tailsitter is capable of covering 100km and 450km in reusable and single-use architectures respectively. A docking station is also designed utilising a four stage process for deployment of the tailsitter.

► We consider the adaption of a terrestrial tailsitter UAV for use on Mars. ► Consideration of 12 subsystems at the ‘systems’ level. ► Tailsitter is reusable, has elevons and twin rotors and has a range of 100 km. ► Tailsitter uses a ‘docking station’ as a hub for exploration.