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Mission Design for the CubeSat OUFTI-1

Mission Design for the CubeSat OUFTI-1

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CHAPTER 44.1 The <strong>CubeSat</strong> conceptDuring <strong>the</strong> last years, a complex process is taking place in <strong>the</strong> space industry: on<strong>the</strong> one hand, <strong>the</strong>re is a growing tendency <strong>for</strong> satellite to become larger, on <strong>the</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r hand, many miniaturized satellites are designed. In fact, from <strong>the</strong> hugespacecraft of Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990 which weighed morethan 11 tons, <strong>the</strong>re is an actual trend to reduce at most <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> satellite:this reduces not only <strong>the</strong> costs connected to <strong>the</strong> launch but also those directlyimplied in <strong>the</strong> design and construction of <strong>the</strong> spacecraft. The miniaturizedsatellite can be classified according to <strong>the</strong>ir ’wet’ mass (including fuel) :• Minisatellite: wet mass between 100 Kg and 500 Kg. They are usuallysimple but <strong>the</strong>y use <strong>the</strong> same technology as <strong>the</strong> bigger satellites and <strong>the</strong>yare often equipped with rockets <strong>for</strong> propulsion and attitude control.• Microsatellite: wet mass between 10 Kg and 100 Kg. The miniaturizationprocess begins to be important but sometimes <strong>the</strong>y still use some kind ofpropulsion.• Nanosatellite: wet mass between 1 Kg and 10 Kg. Every component hasto be reduced in terms of mass and volume and no kind of propulsion isusually <strong>for</strong>eseen. They can be launched ’piggyback’, using excess capabilityon larger launch vehicle.• Picosatellite: wet mass between 0.1 Kg et 1 Kg. The miniaturizationprocess is maximum and many new technologies have to be used in orderto accomplish <strong>the</strong> requirements. They are launched ’piggyback’ with somepeculiar deployment system.These miniaturized satellites go toward many technical challenges, especiallyconcerning <strong>the</strong> attitude control and <strong>the</strong> electronic equipment, including <strong>the</strong>communication system: <strong>the</strong>y need indeed to use more up-to-date technology,which often needs to be carefully tested and modified in order to be space hardenedand resistant to <strong>the</strong> outer space environment.The <strong>CubeSat</strong> design is an example of a Picosatellite with dimensions of10x10x10 cm and typically using commercial off-<strong>the</strong>-shelf electronic components.The concept was originally developed by <strong>the</strong> Cali<strong>for</strong>nia Polytechnic StateUniversity and by <strong>the</strong> Stan<strong>for</strong>d University, with Professor Robert Twiggs, andafterward it widely circulates among <strong>the</strong> academic world . At <strong>the</strong> moment, over60 University, high schools and industries are involved in <strong>the</strong> development of<strong>CubeSat</strong>s. Some of <strong>the</strong>m are designing double and triple <strong>CubeSat</strong>s: <strong>the</strong>y can fitin <strong>the</strong> traditional deployment system but <strong>the</strong>y can have more mass and volume.As a matter of fact, a <strong>CubeSat</strong> represents <strong>the</strong> best way to give some experienceGalli Stefania 20 University of Liège

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