1U CubeSat Concept PACO

Last crawled date: 1 year, 10 months ago

For more information, including design concept and details, please see the word document in the files section

This cubesat was design with the following goals:
1. Be designed as close to CalPoly Standards as possible.
2. Maximize the interior space for maximum payload capacity.
3. Be partially modular. A board stack-up should be installed as one piece.
4. Reduce the number of parts and take advantage of Additive Manufacturing technology.
5. Be easily modified into a 1.5U, 2U, 3U, and 3U+ configuration

I designed this cubesat to be made of aluminum using direct metal laser sintering that will then be hard anodized as a secondary manufacturing process. The large TML of plastics in microgravity eliminates the use of plastic as a frame. I am also not confident in plastics ability to survive 15~20 g vibration with a load at elevated temperatures.

I went with a hexahedral concept due to its excellent strength to weight capabilities combined with additive manufacturing's allowance to modify a design for each application. The design team making a cubesat can fill in honeycombs or add in thin plates on the interior surface to accommodate their individual thermo profile and create their own hardpoints. It also gives the engineers the ability to remove or modify honeycombs for imagers and advance communication equipment.

This design also gives design teams a large interior volume to accommodate their payload and scientific instruments. Since the board stack-up is inserted as one piece, the electrical and system engineers can develop and construct the board stack independently instead of mechanical and electrical systems bottlenecking the others development.

Since the frame is two component, assembly should be easy. A board stack, with stainless steel standoffs, flex cables, and headers, attaches to the interior Z+ face. The rest of the frame, with the cubesat's thermal insulation then comes down and is secured by eight stainless steel low profile screws. The solar panels are then connected with flex cables and then screwed in with stainless steel fasteners.

I believe that this design can be a valuable tool to high schools, universities, and small companies who produce a limited number of cubesats at one time. I also believe with some testing and modifications to the design, this could pass CalPoly acceptance in less than 2 years accounting for limited time and availability of equipment as a student.

I am a mechanical engineering student taking summer classes and working at my university's Space System Engineering Program. I designed this cubesat in between class and work. I testify that I did not knowingly copy another person's design nor was I compensated while designing this concept.
MP