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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Thermal Design and Analysis of Green Propulsion Dual Mode CubeSat

Green Propulsion Dual Mode (GPDM) is a collaboration between NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Georgia Tech to create a 6U CubeSat demonstrating the use of the green propellant Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT) in two propulsion systems: using a traditional chemical thruster and an electrospray thruster system. The driving thermal considerations includes a planned orbit always in Sun view without any time in Earth’s eclipse, and a chemical thruster reaching 1300°C during firing. Thermal design and analysis on CubeSats are not always emphasized, particularly in experimental or academic environments. This paper will describe the thermal design and analysis performed on GPDM and the mitigations implemented for this mission, which will highlight some of the thermal challenges unique to experimental small satellites.

Thermal Analysis↗
NASA NTRS2015

Programmable Ultra-Lightweight System Adaptable Radio

The programmable ultra-lightweight system adaptable radio (PULSAR) is a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center transceiver designed for the CubeSat market, but has the potential for other markets. The PULSAR project aims to reduce size, weight, and power while increasing telemetry data rate. The current version of the PULSAR has a mass of 2.2 kg and a footprint of 10.8 cm2. The height depends on the specific configuration. The PULSAR S-Band Communications Subsystem is an S- and X-band transponder system comprised of a receiver/detector (receiver) element, a transmitter element(s), and related power distribution, command, control, and telemetry element for operation and information interfaces. It is capable of receiving commands, encoding and transmitting telemetry, as well as providing tracking data in a manner compatible with Earthbased ground stations, near Earth network, and deep space network station resources. The software-defined radio's (SDR's) data format characteristics can be defined and reconfigured during spaceflight or prior to launch. The PULSAR team continues to evolve the SDR to improve the performance and form factor to meet the requirements that the CubeSat market space requires. One of the unique features is that the actual radio design can change (somewhat), but not require any hardware modifications due to the use of field programmable gate arrays.

Werkheiser, Arthur↗
NASA NTRS2021

Ambient Performance Testing of the CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS)

Hyperspectral infrared measurements of Earth’s atmosphere from space have proven their value for weather forecasting, climate science and atmospheric composition. The CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS) instrument will demonstrate a fully functional infrared temperature, water vapor and carbon monoxide sounder in a CubeSat sized volume for at least an order of magnitude lower cost than legacy systems. Design for a CubeSat significantly reduces cost of access to space and enables flight in a constellation to reduce revisit time and enable new measurements including 3D winds. A technology demonstration of CIRAS is currently under development at JPL. The effort has completed integration and ambient testing of a high fidelity brassboard, complete with the flight configured optics assembly developed by Ball Aerospace with a JPL Immersion Grating and Black Silicon Entrance Slit. The brassboard includes a flight-configured High Operating Temperature Barrier Infrared Detector (HOT-BIRD) mounted in an Integrated Dewar Cryocooler Assembly (IDCA), enabling testing in the ambient environment. Ambient testing included radiometric testing of the system to characterize the instrument operability and NEdT. Spatial testing was performed to characterize the system line spread function (LSF) in two axes and report FWHM of the LSF. Spectral testing involved an air path test to characterize the spectral/spatial transformation matrix, and an etalon was used to measure the Spectral Response Functions (SRFs). Results of the testing show the CIRAS performs exceptionally well and meets the key performance required of the system. The end result of testing is the CIRAS instrument now meets TRL 4 with confidence in a brassboard configuration ready for thermal vacuum (TVac) testing necessary to achieve TRL 5 for the system.

Wilson, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Testing of the BionicWingSat in a Zero-g Flight Campaign - A 2U-CubeSat with Deployable, Biologically-Inspired Wings

In this paper, recent developments in the design, manufacturing, and testing of a novel deployable structure with several potential applications in space will be described. Through a cooperative effort of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a biologically inspired structurally integrated membrane featuring distributed functional elements has been developed and tested in a 2U CubeSat called BionicWingSat. Such a membrane structure could be useful for several applications in which a relatively flat area is desirable such as solar sails, drag sails, or solar shades. For SmallSats and CubeSats, the design proposed also has the desirable property of being self-deploying without the need for powered deployment mechanisms. Building on previous work inspired by the wings of earwigs, the research presented in this paper includes structural design of self-deploying hinges, a survey of various advanced additive layer manufacturing (ALM) methods for making hinges, mechanical characterization of the hinges, and finite element analysis (FEA) of the hinges. In this work, the conflicting goals of maximizing deployed structural stiffness, maximizing deployed area, maximizing stowed packaging efficiency, and maximizing resistance to creep when stowed must be considered. The resulting design concept is a gossamer structure that cannot support its own weight in gravity. For this reason, a focus in this paper is on a parabolic flight test campaign in which 24 fully integrated wings on two BionicWingSats were tested in a microgravity environment. From this test campaign, several lessons were learned regarding the wing design and procedures for carrying out microgravity tests of this manner.

CubeSat↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Testing of the BionicWingSat in a Zero-g Flight Campaign - A 2U-CubeSat with Deployable, Biologically-Inspired Wings

In this paper, recent developments in the design, manufacturing, and testing of a novel deployable structure with several potential applications in space will be described. Through a cooperative effort of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a biologically inspired structurally integrated membrane featuring distributed functional elements has been developed and tested in a 2U CubeSat called BionicWingSat. Such a membrane structure could be useful for several applications in which a relatively flat area is desirable such as solar sails, drag sails, or solar shades. For SmallSats and CubeSats, the design proposed also has the desirable property of being self-deploying without the need for powered deployment mechanisms. Building on previous work inspired by the wings of earwigs, the research presented in this paper includes structural design of self-deploying hinges, a survey of various advanced additive layer manufacturing (ALM) methods for making hinges, mechanical characterization of the hinges, and finite element analysis (FEA) of the hinges. In this work, the conflicting goals of maximizing deployed structural stiffness, maximizing deployed area, maximizing stowed packaging efficiency, and maximizing resistance to creep when stowed must be considered. The resulting design concept is a gossamer structure that cannot support its own weight in gravity. For this reason, a focus in this paper is on a parabolic flight test campaign in which 24 fully integrated wings on two BionicWingSats were tested in a microgravity environment. From this test campaign, several lessons were learned regarding the wing design and procedures for carrying out microgravity tests of this manner.

CubeSat↗
NASA NTRS2019

Program Management for Concurrent University Satellite Programs, Including Propellant Feed System Design Elements

Propulsion options for CubeSats are limited but are necessary for the CubeSat industry to continue future growth. Challenges to CubeSat propulsion include volume/mass constraints, availability of sufficiently small and certified hardware, secondary payload status, safe storage of high energy, and power requirements. A multi-mode (chemical and electric) thruster was developed by at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) to enable CubeSat propulsion missions. Two satellite buses, a 3U and 6U, are being developed by the M-SAT satellite research team at Missouri S&T to demonstrate the multi-mode thruster's capabilities. Two key challenges related to these missions are the development of the feed system to support the thruster and management of the two programs' personnel, resources, timelines, and budgets. The feed system was designed to support the unique needs of the thruster including material compatibility with the custom ionic liquid, variable flow rate, high pressurization, and high voltage within the constraints and budget of a student-designed propulsion system. The feed system was also designed to minimize risk as a secondary payload. This resulted in the development of a unique method to pressurize propellant stored in the feed system tubing. Within the expected operating pressure range, the method was experimentally shown to provide sufficient pressure and propellant volume to the thruster to meet mission success criteria. The 3U and 6U CubeSat buses were designed concurrently with complimentary payloads, hardware, objectives, and team structures. Resources such as personnel, lab space, and time had to be carefully balanced between the two teams. With proper management, the two programs have been able to support one another, providing valuable insight and collaboration between the two teams. Lessons learned include experience with design, testing, and assembly of hardware, team training/mentoring and motivation, improved documentation practices, and risk management.

Withrow, Shannah Nichole↗
NASA NTRS2014

Deployment Methods for an Origami-Inspired Rigid-Foldable Array

The purpose of this work is to evaluate several deployment methods for an origami-inspired solar array at two size scales: 25-meter array and CubeSat array. The array enables rigid panel deployment and introduces new concepts for actuating CubeSat deployables. The design for the array was inspired by the origami flasher model (Lang, 1997; Shafer, 2001). Figure 1 shows the array prototyped from Garolite and Kapton film at the CubeSat scale. Prior work demonstrated that rigid panels like solar cells could successfully be folded into the final stowed configuration without requiring the panels to flex (Zirbel, Lang, Thomson, & al., 2013). The design of the array is novel and enables efficient use of space. The array can be wrapped around the central bus of the spacecraft in the case of the large array, or can accommodate storage of a small instrument payload in the case of the CubeSat array. The radial symmetry of this array around the spacecraft is ideally suited for spacecraft that need to spin. This work focuses on several actuation methods for a one-time deployment of the array. The array is launched in its stowed configuration and it will be deployed when it is in space. Concepts for both passive and active actuation were considered.

Zirbel, Shannon A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

CubeSub

This presentation introduces and discusses the development of the CubeSub submersible concept, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) designed around the CubeSat satellite form factor. The presented work is part of the author's MSc thesis in Aerospace Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, and was performed during an internship at the Mission Design Division of the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Still in the early stages of its development, the CubeSub is to become a submersible test-bed for technology qualified for underwater and space environments. With the long-term goal of exploring the underwater environments in outer space, such as the alleged subsurface ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa, a number of technology and operational procedures must be developed and matured. To assist in this, the CubeSub platform is introduced as a tool to allow engineers and scientists to easily test qualified technology underwater. A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite built to a standardized size. The base size is 1U (U for unit), corresponding to a 100 x 100 x 113.5 cu mm cube. A 1U CubeSat can in other words easily be held in one hand. Stacking units give larger satellite sizes such as the also commonly used 1.5U, 2U and 3U. The CubeSat standard is in itself already well established and hundreds of CubeSats have to date been launched into space. Compatible technology is readily available and the know-how exists in the space industry, all of which makes it a firm ground to stand on for the CubeSub. The rationale behind using the CubeSat form factor is to make use of this pre-existing foundation, making the CubeSub easy to develop, modular and readily available. It will thereby aid in the process of maturing the concept of a fully space qualified submersible headed for outer space. As a further clarification, the CubeSub is itself not meant for outer space, but to facilitate development of such a vessel. Along with its uses as a testbed, the CubeSub also holds the potential to become a useful tool for exploration and experimentation here on Earth. A highly standardized system utilizing well-known hardware can reduce the cost and required work load for researchers wishing to perform experiments and exploration. Users could design sensors and experiments to comply with the already well established CubeSat standard, which are then carried by the CubeSub to the region of interest. This in turn means that the end users can focus more on formulating the experiment itself and less about how to get it where they want it. The CubeSub is designed to be built up by modules, which can be assembled in different configurations to fulfill different needs. Each module will be powered individually and intermodular communication will be wireless, removing the need for wiring. The inside of the cylindrical hull will be flooded with ambient water to enhance the interaction between payloads and surrounding environment. The overall torpedo-like shape is similar to that of a conventional AUV, slender and smooth. This is to make for a low drag, reduce the risk of snagging on surrounding objects and make it possible to deploy through an ice sheet via a narrow borehole or navigate in tight areas. To keep costs low and further accelerate development, rapid prototyping is utilized wherever possible. Full-scale prototypes are being constructed through 3D-printing and using COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) components. 3D-printing is used both for the largest hull components and the relatively small and delicate propellers. Arduino boards are used for control and internal communication

AUV↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Spacecraft Technologies: The Evolution of CubeSat Spacecraft Platforms

The maturity of small spacecraft technology is indicated by the continued growth in the number of missions, mission complexity, and the expansion of smallsat subsystem capability. The inception of the CubeSat platform has incentivized the space industry to achieve a broad collection of science for less cost, and there is an evolving trend in the overall utilization of the CubeSat platform seen in the last decade. CubeSats’ initial purpose was to serve as a platform to demonstrate specific technologies while also serving as an educational platform for students and professional engineers alike. In the ten years since, CubeSats are being designed for more complex science missions around the Moon, Sun, or to deep space, and the projection for 10 years from now is that CubeSats will be performing more complex deep space missions. The progress of overall small spacecraft technology development is captured in the most recent 2020 Small Spacecraft Technology State-of-the-Art (SoA) report, the objective of which is to assess and provide an overview on the current development status across all subsystem architectures. The SoA report summarizes the results of a variety of surveys covering device performance, capabilities, and flight history, as presented in publicly available literature. The focus of these surveys is on devices or systems that can be commercially procured or appear on a path towards being commercial availability. The work toward the 2020 edition of the SoA report was managed by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) and performed by several contractor staff. The S3VI is jointly funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft Technologies↗
NASA NTRS2021

The Evolution of CubeSat Spacecraft Platforms

The maturity of small spacecraft technology is indicated by the continued growth in the number of missions, mission complexity, and the expansion of smallsat subsystem capability. The inception of the CubeSat platform has incentivized the space industry to achieve a broad collection of science for less cost, and there is an evolving trend in the overall utilization of the CubeSat platform seen in the last decade. CubeSats’ initial purpose was to serve as a platform to demonstrate specific technologies while also serving as an educational platform for students and professional engineers alike. In the ten years since, CubeSats are being designed for more complex science missions around the Moon, Sun, or to deep space, and the projection for 10 years from now is that CubeSats will be performing more complex deep space missions. The progress of overall small spacecraft technology development is captured in the most recent 2020 Small Spacecraft Technology State-of-the-Art (SoA) report, the objective of which is to assess and provide an overview on the current development status across all subsystem architectures. The SoA report summarizes the results of a variety of surveys covering device performance, capabilities, and flight history, as presented in publicly available literature. The focus of these surveys is on devices or systems that can be commercially procured or appear on a path towards being commercial availability.

Small Spacecraft Technology↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Evolution of CubeSat Spacecraft Platforms

The maturity of small spacecraft technology is indicated by the continued growth in the number of missions, mission complexity, and the expansion of smallsat subsystem capability. The inception of the CubeSat platform has incentivized the space industry to achieve a broad collection of science for less cost, and there is an evolving trend in the overall utilization of the CubeSat platform seen in the last decade. The initial purpose of CubeSats’ was to serve as a platform to demonstrate specific technologies while also serving as an educational platform for students and professional engineers alike. In the ten years since, CubeSats have been designed for more complex science missions around the Moon, Sun, or to deep space, and the projection for ten years from now is that CubeSats will be performing more complex deep space missions. The progress of overall small spacecraft technology development is captured in the most recent 2021 Small Spacecraft Technology State-of-the-Art (SoA) report, the objective of which is to assess and provide an overview on the current development status across all subsystem architectures. The SoA report summarizes the results of a variety of surveys covering device performance, capabilities, and flight history, as presented in publicly available literature. The focus of these surveys is on devices or systems that can be commercially procured or appear on a path toward becoming commercially available.

Small Spacecraft Technology↗
NASA NTRS2017

Iris Deep-Space Transponder for SLS EM-1 CubeSat Missions

Several key design upgrades have been recently made to the Iris Deep-Space Transponder baselined to be used on secondary payload missions of the upcoming Space Launch System Exploration Mission One (SLS EM-1). The Iris Transponder is a reconfigurable software-defined radio (SDR) designed for missions requiring interoperability with NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) on X-band frequencies (7.2 GHz uplink, 8.4 GHz downlink). The transponder provides radiometric tracking support with the DSN to provide navigational products for precise orbit determination while performing standard uplink and downlink communications in a CubeSat/SmallSat-applicable package size. The recent hardware changes include a volume reduction of 30% from previous models, with the main transponder unit weighing less than 1.0 kg, while maintaining total ionizing dose (TID) radiation tolerance of >23 krads (Si) for deep-space missions. Lab tests indicate maximum downlink rates of up to 6.25 Msps can be supported by the transponder in conventional BPSK modulation, but most SLS EM-1 CubeSat missions are link-performance limited to less than 256 kbps. A prototype unit of the flight production units has been assembled and various performance and characterization tests are underway. This talk discusses the key design aspects and specifications of the Iris Transponder and presents preliminary results from early testing of the assembled transponder.

Kobayashi, M. Michael↗
NASA NTRS2017

Design and characterization of a low cost CubeSat multi-band optical receiver to map water ice on the lunar surface for the Lunar Flashlight mission

Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, which may act as cold traps for volatiles. To this end, a multi-band reflectometer will be sent to orbit the Moon. This instrument consists of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers, each of which emits sequentially at a different wavelength in the near-infrared between 1 μm and 2 μm. The receiver measures the laser light reflected from the lunar surface; continuum/absorption band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice in the illuminated spot. Here, we present the current state of the optical receiver design. To optimize the optical signal-to-noise ratio, we have designed the receiver so as to maximize the laser signal collected, while minimizing the stray light reaching the detector from solar-illuminated areas of the lunar surface outside the field-of-view, taking into account the complex lunar topography. Characterization plans are also discussed. This highly mass- and volume-constrained mission will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first CubeSats performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit.

Sellar, Glenn R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Design and Functional Validation of a Mechanism for Dual-Spinning CubeSats

The mission of the Micro-sized Microwave Atmospheric Satellite (MicroMAS) is to collect useful atmospheric images using a miniature passive microwave radiometer payload hosted on a low-cost CubeSat platform. In order to collect this data, the microwave radiometer payload must rotate to scan the ground-track perpendicular to the satellite's direction of travel. A custom motor assembly was developed to facilitate the rotation of the payload while allowing the spacecraft bus to remained fixed in the local-vertical, local-horizontal (LVLH) frame for increased pointing accuracy. This paper describes the mechanism used to enable this dual-spinning operation for CubeSats, and the lessons learned during the design, fabrication, integration, and testing phases of the mechanism's development lifecycle.

Peters, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2015

MarCO: CubeSats to Mars in 2016

In March of 2016, the InSight lander will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base to begin a 6.5 month cruise to Mars. Soon after InSight separates from the upper stage of the launch vehicle, the two MarCO CubeSats will deploy and independently fly to Mars to support telecommunications relay for InSight’s entry, descent, and landing sequence. These craft will have onboard capability for deep space trajectory correction maneuvers; high-speed direct-to-Earth & DSN-compatible communications; an advanced navigation transponder; a large deployable reflectarray high gain antenna; and a robust software suite. This paper will present preliminary information on the MarCO project, including a concept of operations and details of the CubeSats and subsystem design. MarCO will open the door for NanoSpacecraft to serve in support roles for much larger primary missions – in this case, providing a real-time relay of for the InSight project. It will also be the first CubeSats to reach deep space, building upon the lessons learned from the INSPIRE project. At only a 6U in size, these craft well illustrate the tremendous capability available in a small package.

Krajewski, Joel↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cubesat Deployment from a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit

Satellites deployed from the Gateway in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) must be safely delivered their desired destinations in cislunar space and beyond. The presence of simultaneously significant gravitational forces from the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun, along with the absence of atmospheric drag, complicates the mission design problem for cubesats deployed from the Gateway. The current investigation defines candidate green zones for safe satellite deployment, allowing a passive departing spacecraft to avoid recontact with the Gateway as it departs the NRHO vicinity.

NRHO↗
NASA NTRS2018

Design Principles for Smallsat SARs

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is by now a mature remote sensing technique to obtain spatially-resolved radar measurements of terrain. Currently, SAR image data are readily available from an ever-expanding multitude of SAR satellites in Earth orbit. Many spaceborne SAR systems currently in use or planned for the near-term are multifunctional: their designs tend to maximize the menu of image modes available to the end user. They also follow fairly conventional design principles, laid down decades ago, that lead almost inevitably to large antennas and even larger spacecraft. This raises the question: how does one go about designing a SAR system that fits in a Smallsat (<200 kg) form factor? The design principles for Smallsat SARs outlined in this paper have been developed over a twenty-year period in architecting Earth-orbiting SARs such as NASA/JPL’s NISAR and ESA’s Biomass mission, as well as planetary SAR mission concepts. Example mission concepts following this approach will be presented at the end of the paper. These include an S-Band Smallsat geodetic constellation to measure surface deformation, as called for by the 2018 National Academy Decadal Survey for Earth Observation from Space. Another example is a Ka-band cubesat-sized system designed to detect changes on Earth’s surface.

Freeman, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS2016

MarCO: Interplanetary Mission Development on a CubeSat Scale

Shortly after JPL’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission launches, separates, and commences its cruise phase, two CubeSats will deploy from the launch vehicle’s upper stage and begin independent flight to Mars (Fig. 1). During InSight’s entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence, these twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft will fly 3,500 km above the Martian surface, recording and relaying InSight UHF radio data to the Deep Space Network (DSN) on Earth1. MarCO is a twin CubeSat mission developed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to accompany the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mars mission lander. MarCO's primary mission objective is to launch with InSight and independently fly to Mars to serve as a communications relay during InSight's entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase. MarCO represents a new type of deep space mission: CubeSats at Mars. Building on the development of JPL's first interplanetary CubeSat project, the Interplanetary Nano-Spacecraft Pathfinder in Relevant Environment (INSPIRE), MarCO further refined the approach to hardware, software, and ground architecture development to solve the challenges of quickly building low-budget spacecraft to fly to Mars. The greatest constraint, beyond others typical of CubeSat missions, was time. The duration between MarCO's conception to completion of spacecraft assembly was less than two years - an unprecedented schedule for any planetary mission to date. Through necessity, MarCO has built on previous experience, procedures, systems, and development methodologies, defining a new niche for supporting larger primary missions. The MarCO spacecraft are poised to write a new chapter in deep space exploration. Originally slated to launch and reach Mars in 2016, the InSight mission schedule subsequently slipped to 2018. During the original landing of InSight, Earth would not be in view, and no orbiter around Mars would have been in position to both receive UHF EDL data and simultaneously relay it back to Earth. It was from this obstacle that MarCO was conceived. Regardless of any changes to InSight’s 2018 EDL configuration geometry, MarCO is still expected to fly and serve in the same capacity as originally designed: the first CubeSat mission to Mars. CubeSats have historically been firmly in the domain of universities and small companies. As first conceived, they served as a platform upon which to teach all aspects of the space mission lifecycle. JPL took on this mission type with Interplanetary Nano-Spacecraft Pathfinder in Relevant Environment2 (INSPIRE), moving the concept into a new domain: deep space. Building from the INSPIRE platform and lessons learned, MarCO addressed new challenges in the domain of planetary missions: independent interplanetary flight and navigation, integration with a large-scale mission, long-distance and long-delay communication, short development time, and a small development team. Of these, the greatest constraint was schedule: only 18 months passed from conception of mission concept until delivery of fully assembled and tested flight hardware. Careful selection of mission team, along with extensive use of off-the-shelf equipment, and streamlining automated processes, was essential. This achievement represents the next step in the evolution of CubeSats beyond low-Earth orbit.

Werne, Thomas↗