Author Topic: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology  (Read 175229 times)

Offline TrevorMonty

CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« on: 07/09/2014 10:04 am »
What has surprised me is the lack of CubeSat and NanoSat threads so I thought it was about time to address this.
Plan is keep it something like the 3D printing threads where members post interesting links and keep the discussions to minimum or better still create discussion thread and maybe mission one. Please don't SpaceX this thread.

Cubesats make great test beds for new technologies some of which will work there way up into larger space craft.

Up to now cubesats have been legless and restricted to LEO, that is about to change.
A few companies and universities are working on propulsion systems for cubesats. These will give the cubesats wings allowing them to go BLEO and onto the outer planets in the next few years.
 
Here are just a few of the many being developed or already flight ready.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/05/03/nasa-eyes-sending-cubesats-deep-space/

Chemical
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/04/08/nasa-awards-aerojet-rocketdyne-contract-cubesat-propulsion-system/

Water as propulsion.
www.tethers.com/HYDROS.html

Plasma
www.space.com/21867-cubesat-deep-space-propulsion-kickstarter.html

Micro Electrospray Thrusters (MEP)
https://gcd.larc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FS-MEP_factsheet_130124.pdf

Solar sails
http://www.gizmag.com/cubesats-phobos-nasa/22037/
 



Online jongoff

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #1 on: 07/09/2014 02:56 pm »
There's also our MIDAS (Multi-purpose Interplanetary Deployable Aerocapture System) project to do a deployable Magnetoshell Aerocapture coil combined with deep space comms and a 1-3m^2 roll-out solar array. It's only deceleration propulsion, but if we can make it work, it'd allow a 6U cubesat sized object to capture into orbit around another planet--that's a ~1000m/s delta-V maneuver performed in under 5min...

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/05/05/altius-space-machines/
http://blog.altius-space.com/2014/06/recent-altius-contract-wins-what-do-they-mean/

~Jon

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #2 on: 07/10/2014 01:01 am »
History of cubesat in this video.




Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #3 on: 07/10/2014 09:28 am »
 Cubesat Interplanetary missions


Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #4 on: 07/11/2014 01:09 am »
The Prox-1 is actually a Microsatellite which launches a cubesat as a target to focus on. In this case the target cubesat will be Planetary Society's LightSail experiment.
The Prox-1 is designed to lock onto a item in space and orbit. Just the technology for close up surveys of asteriods, some these students might find themselves working for Planetary Resources one day.

http://nique.net/news/2013/01/24/students-may-launch-the-first-tech-satellite/
« Last Edit: 07/11/2014 01:12 am by TrevorMonty »

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #5 on: 07/13/2014 09:54 pm »
With regular COTS flights now, NASA is putting the ISS to good use testing new technologies on cubesats.

 http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/07/13/nasa-ames-launches-smartphone-upgrade-cubesat-aboard-orbital-rocket/

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #6 on: 07/16/2014 08:16 am »
This video from small sat conference covers following.
1)Tethers Unlimited water propulsion for cubesats, plus the slingshot method of sending a secondary payload into outer space.
2) ULA ride sharing technologies. The MULE at 0:41 is SEP ESPA capable of delivery its cargo to Mars.
Amazing how many places they can find on 2nd stage to place rideshare payloads.
3) Interorbital small sat launcher.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/34719483

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #7 on: 07/16/2014 11:15 am »
Video from ISSC 2014.
First half of this video starting about 0:10 is on the CAT thruster. This is a plasma thruster for cubesats. With LEO to earth escape in 6months and DV of  up to 7km/s this propulsion system enables planetary missions using LEO launched cubesats.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/46819252

Offline MajorBringdown

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #8 on: 07/18/2014 04:33 pm »
Thanks for these links, I found them quite interesting.

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #9 on: 07/18/2014 10:09 pm »
Thanks Major for the support.

Here are a couple of articles from Jon about the Asteroid sampling project and Midas project.


http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/07/18/altius-update/

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/07/17/indepth-altius-space-machines-contract-awards/

Landing on a tumbling asteroid is one of the many problems to solve. There a plenty of 2nd stages in orbit to test the technology on.

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #10 on: 07/29/2014 06:09 pm »
What interested me about this article was the monitoring of illegal fishing. New Zealand spends a lot of money on policing its coastal waters.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/07/29/nanosatisfi-raises-25-million-series-funding-spire/#more-53008


Offline TrevorMonty


Offline TrevorMonty


Offline Ohsin

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #13 on: 08/09/2014 05:33 pm »
There are these Earth-imaging satellites from PlanetLabs

https://www.planet.com/flock1/
"Well, three cheers to Sharma, but our real baby is INSAT."

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #14 on: 08/11/2014 08:11 pm »
NASA to fund smallsat technologies.
The mini star tracker is for planetary explorer cubesats.

 http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/08/11/nasa-funds-additional-smallsat-research-projects/#more-53130

Offline mlindner

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #15 on: 08/13/2014 07:34 am »
Cubesat Interplanetary missions

<snip>

Nice link. Two University of Michigan featured satellites. Cool.
« Last Edit: 08/13/2014 07:34 am by mlindner »
LEO is the ocean, not an island (let alone a continent). We create cruise liners to ride the oceans, not artificial islands in the middle of them. We need a physical place, which has physical resources, to make our future out there.

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #16 on: 08/14/2014 09:18 am »
Great article by Jeff on using Cubesats for Lunar missions.

The SLS 2017 lunar flyby demo could deploy quite a few Cubesats as secondary payloads. Looks like NASA is trying fill these secondary payload slots with interesting experiments/missions. Between Cubesats and the new small landers being developed for Lunar Xprize, a medium LV eg F9 could deliver multiple missions to moon in one launch.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2570/1

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #17 on: 08/14/2014 09:53 am »
Another article on a Cubesat Lunar Lander. Cubesat technology still has away to go but this may be feasible in next few years.

http://www.cubesatlab.org/doc/Space-Grant-Dinner-2010-Poster-CubeSat-Lunar-Lander-Design.pdf

An another
http://www.space.com/17273-tiny-lunarcubes-spacecraft-moon-exploration.html

A small cubesat lunar hopper would be ideal in exploring lava tubes. Land a small lander (eg moon express) near the lava tube entrance then deploy multiple hoppers each one building on the last ones flight, they could also be used as communications repeaters.
« Last Edit: 08/14/2014 10:08 am by TrevorMonty »

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #18 on: 08/14/2014 01:01 pm »
Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover

Online oldAtlas_Eguy

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #19 on: 08/15/2014 02:14 pm »
From the standpoint of custom phonesat implementations there is a significant software automation-set for phone design with virtual and hardware in the loop simulation.  You can change the frequency, the modulation, the codes, the operation modes (act not just as a client but as a peer to peer or even as a base station), bandwidth, etc.  Modern phones use direct convert digital to and from RF.  Meaning there are no limitations other than a top frequency of the converters used.

This means that new designs using latest components can be rapidly used and designed and built in less than 6 months.

 

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