Developing a Standard Test Program for CubeSats

Abstract

Developers of CubeSats and other miniaturized satellites often lack the schedule and budget to devise and implement an extensive environmental test campaign. CubeSat projects have become increasingly common at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) over the past few years, revealing the need for a standard CubeSat test program to maximize the likelihood of mission success while meeting project cost and schedule constraints. In this paper, we describe our efforts to develop a general protoflight test program for CubeSats in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and compare this test program with a typical test program for non-CubeSat LEO satellites and instruments. We investigate the effectiveness of the CubeSat test program—both as a design and workmanship screen and as a standard needing minimal project-specific tailoring—and discuss potential areas for improvement.