CubeSat - Applications - Development of CubeSat Technology

Development of CubeSat Technology

• AAU CubeSat, by Aalborg University – The Danish students in this project, beginning in the summer of 2001, designed a satellite that would evaluate the technology and demonstrate the capabilities of the CubeSat concept. In order to successfully show the technology to the public, the team installed a camera on board the spacecraft, and outfitted it with a magnetically based attitude control system. But upon reaching orbit, the radio signals were weaker than expected and the batteries failed after only one month of semi-operational activity.

• AAUSAT-II is the second student-built CubeSat built and operated by students from Aalborg University in Denmark. It was launched 28 April 2008 05:54 UTC from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India on a PSLV rocket. AAUSAT-II carries a radiation sensor.

• AAUSAT3 is the third student-built CubeSat from Aalborg University in Denmark. The primary payload is an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver which primary task is to receive AIS data from ships around Greenland. Planned launch Q1 2011.

• PW-Sat, by Warsaw University of Technology – This experiment revolves around CubeSats themselves. The test will involve developing a method to deorbit CubeSats by engaging an atmospheric drag device. The mission's focus will be the testing of this foil device; its deployment to intentionally bring the satellite back into the thicker portion of Earth's atmosphere to bring the mission to an end. If successful the satellite will be Poland's first. The satellite was delivered to orbit on the maiden flight of the European Space Agency's new launch vehicle in 2012.

• OUFTI-1, by the University of Liège and I.S.I.L (Haute École de la Province de Liège) – This is a 1-unit CubeSat that is being built by Belgian students. The name is an acronym for Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovation. The Belgian satellite was planned to launch on the maiden flight of Vega. The goal of the project is to develop experience in the different aspects of satellite design and operation. In the communications portion of the device, the academic team will be experimenting with the D-STAR digital voice mode and communications protocol that is popular with amateur radio operators. The satellite has a mass of just 1 kilogram and will utilize a UHF uplink and a VHF downlink.

• CubeSat TestBed 1, by Boeing – Boeing successfully completed all of its design and operational goals with its first nanosatellite. It was built and flown to explore the possibilities with the new CubeSat standard. Boeing satellites are usually much larger; a Boeing 601 or 702 satellite has 1,000 times the mass of their 1 kilogram CubeSat.

• InnoSAT, by Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd – This CubeSat will test attitude control and navigation technologies developed by five Malaysian universities.

• XSAS, by University of Michigan – This project, based on graduate research, will house an accordion folded solar array inside a 1U CubeSat. The array will extend into a long solar panel once in orbit, thereby increasing by many times the power available to an attached CubeSat.

• Clyde Space is a company that started development of subsystems for CubeSats in 2005, including electrical power systems, attitude control systems, and pulsed-plasma thruster propulsion systems. Recently, the UK Space Agency awarded Clyde Space the UK's first CubeSat mission, UKube-1, a 3U CubeSat due to launch late 2012.

• Aerojet began developing a propulsion system for cubesats in 2011 that occupies a 1U baseline volume and readily integrates with other CubeSat platforms to create modular, fully mobile cubesats. Dubbed "CHAMPS", this system utilizes chemical propulsion and offers significantly more total impulse compared to cold gas propulsion systems.

• Alta SpA develops electric and chemical propulsion systems suited for satellites of various size. A critical analysis of different electric propulsion systems was carried out by the company in 2011. The IL-FEEP thruster, a field emission, linear slit propulsion system based on the FEEP heritage, is specially suited for CubeSats and is provided in a compact, 1U version for use on 2U or 3U missions.