Author Topic: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology  (Read 175230 times)

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #80 on: 03/16/2015 02:11 am »
Yet another cubesat satellite constellation. Also lookout for something call "nanotug" from DSI.


http://www.satnews.com/story.php?number=857326858
« Last Edit: 03/16/2015 02:11 am by TrevorMonty »

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #81 on: 03/16/2015 02:57 am »
A cubesat satellite constellation providing internet access.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/03/14/uksa-clyde-space-provide-global-broadband-cubesats/
Here is bit more information on this. This actually one way transmission i.e web version of radio or TV. 

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/17330/a-working-web-broadcast-from-space-interview-with-outernet/

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #82 on: 03/16/2015 07:08 pm »
New company claims to be have new cubesat scale electric propulsion ready. It seems that MIT iEPS (ion Electrospray Propulsion System) is ready for commercialization. Here is the company web http://www.accion-systems.com/.

The founders came from MIT iEPS project - http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/labs/spl/research_ieps.htm

To be honest, their approach seems to be better suited for attitude control applications than main propulsion. But they really impressed me with their fuel - non-toxic, liquid ionic liquid. The main advantage is that is is very easy to get ions, so no "heating stage" is needed. Thus the "engine" is very compact.

Their initial unit (MAX-1) has 2000s ISP, 0.2U form factor, 5W input power, 60% efficiency, 120uN thrust.

Offline TrevorMonty

« Last Edit: 03/26/2015 07:32 am by TrevorMonty »

Offline nadreck

It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #85 on: 03/26/2015 07:35 am »
I've edited it, try again.

Offline DougL

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #86 on: 03/26/2015 02:35 pm »
Remarkable the size of a solar sail that can get packaged in a small container. We're talking about a 32 square meter sail packaged in a fraction of a #U cubesat.

Offline nadreck

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #87 on: 03/26/2015 05:38 pm »
I've edited it, try again.

It still tells me access denied, my IP is outside of the US is that an issue?
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #88 on: 03/26/2015 06:54 pm »
I've edited it, try again.

It still tells me access denied, my IP is outside of the US is that an issue?
Try this,  alternatively Google some of the address.
http://spirit.as.utexas.edu/~fiso/archivelist.htm

Offline TrevorMonty

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #89 on: 03/27/2015 01:28 am »
Finally listened to this podcast about solar sails.

At end the presenter mentioned couple of future technologies.

 1) lite weight flexible solar panels/sails that could produce 100s watts for a cubesat.
2) use a solar sail as solar concentrator for the cubesat solar panels.

Both of these would be ideal for cubesat missions going to outer planets eg Jupiter.
« Last Edit: 03/27/2015 01:29 am by TrevorMonty »

Offline Solman

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #90 on: 03/28/2015 12:23 am »
Finally listened to this podcast about solar sails.

At end the presenter mentioned couple of future technologies.

 1) lite weight flexible solar panels/sails that could produce 100s watts for a cubesat.
2) use a solar sail as solar concentrator for the cubesat solar panels.

Both of these would be ideal for cubesat missions going to outer planets eg Jupiter.

As someone that has been advocating the use of large solar concentrators with solar cells designed for concentrated sunlight (as opposed to the one foot dia. or so concentrators currently used with such cells on some comsats) for over a decade, it is very gratifying to hear that someone is finally proposing this.
Concentrator cells have achieved over 40% efficiency at up to 900 Suns so the total power available to a cubesat might be even higher than thought. A 32 sq. meter concentrator might not have much more mass than the solar sail mentioned above - particularly since a few hundred Suns is less difficult to achieve than the thousands of Suns for solar furnaces. A concentrator of this size and 90% reflectivity would focus about 11.7 KW thermal in LEO and at 40% efficiency concentrator PV would produce nearly 4.7 KW elec. although a cooling system would be needed.
Concentrator mass can be further reduced as can solar sail mass by cutting holes smaller than the wavelength of visible light to cut their mass by perhaps a factor of ten. Even current tech at 17 KW/kg thermal is competitive with nuclear at Saturn's distance IMO.

Offline Danderman

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #91 on: 03/28/2015 01:18 pm »
Is this going to fly as a CubeSAT?

Offline Burninate

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #92 on: 03/28/2015 01:42 pm »
Finally listened to this podcast about solar sails.

At end the presenter mentioned couple of future technologies.

 1) lite weight flexible solar panels/sails that could produce 100s watts for a cubesat.
2) use a solar sail as solar concentrator for the cubesat solar panels.

Both of these would be ideal for cubesat missions going to outer planets eg Jupiter.

As someone that has been advocating the use of large solar concentrators with solar cells designed for concentrated sunlight (as opposed to the one foot dia. or so concentrators currently used with such cells on some comsats) for over a decade, it is very gratifying to hear that someone is finally proposing this.
Concentrator cells have achieved over 40% efficiency at up to 900 Suns so the total power available to a cubesat might be even higher than thought. A 32 sq. meter concentrator might not have much more mass than the solar sail mentioned above - particularly since a few hundred Suns is less difficult to achieve than the thousands of Suns for solar furnaces. A concentrator of this size and 90% reflectivity would focus about 11.7 KW thermal in LEO and at 40% efficiency concentrator PV would produce nearly 4.7 KW elec. although a cooling system would be needed.
Concentrator mass can be further reduced as can solar sail mass by cutting holes smaller than the wavelength of visible light to cut their mass by perhaps a factor of ten. Even current tech at 17 KW/kg thermal is competitive with nuclear at Saturn's distance IMO.

I would like to invite you to use this thread: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=36789.0;all  to expand on your view of the technologies involved, ideally with citations.

You are talking about numbers tens of times higher than the state of the art panel arrays.
« Last Edit: 03/28/2015 01:44 pm by Burninate »

Offline Comga

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #93 on: 03/29/2015 04:08 pm »
Another video on Michigan Engineering's CAT plasma thruster. With 7 kg payload a 6U cubesat can reach Jupiter in 3yrs from C3 for <$10M per cubesat. 
This is why planetary scientists are very interested/excited by the advances in smallsat and cubesat technology.
Looks like the CAT will fly first half of 2015.
http://www.projectaether.org/main/space/mission.html
Did anyone watch this and take notes?
The link is dead.
The "C3" noted above is missing its numeric value.
Nanosats suffer from radiation in Earth orbit. Jupiter's environment would be a stretch to say the least.
Then there is generating power at 5AU where the solar irradiance is 4% of that near Earth.
Then there is communicating over that distance with that constrained power.
A few challenges To say the least.
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline mtakala24

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #94 on: 03/29/2015 04:43 pm »
Power generation may turn out to be the biggest issue in flying Cubesats far out, as many of the other problems could be solved by just adding more power! (insert Jeremy Clarkson joke here).

It gets also very cold and cubesat shape (10cm cube at least) contains too little structure to retain heat. Could get too cold very quickly in malfunction situations.

There are solutions, though.

Offline A_M_Swallow

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #95 on: 03/29/2015 09:49 pm »
Power generation may turn out to be the biggest issue in flying Cubesats far out, as many of the other problems could be solved by just adding more power! (insert Jeremy Clarkson joke here).

It gets also very cold and cubesat shape (10cm cube at least) contains too little structure to retain heat. Could get too cold very quickly in malfunction situations.

There are solutions, though.

CubeProbes are likely to need light weight mirrors to reflect the weak sunlight onto their solar panels.

Fortunately in a 6U device there is more room for insulation.

Offline mtakala24

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #96 on: 03/29/2015 10:33 pm »
Yes, 6U is one solution. Another is to not actually follow Cubesat sizes, but to build it somewhat bigger than 1U in every direction, still enjoying the benefits of being a NanoSat.

One other is to have CubeProbe with a pretty short lifetime, deployed just in time from a main probe.
« Last Edit: 03/29/2015 10:33 pm by mtakala24 »

Offline Danderman

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #97 on: 03/29/2015 10:49 pm »
Use of propulsion systems and other factors will force some developers to move to a 9U configuration, which I call a "FlatSat".


Offline A_M_Swallow

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Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #98 on: 03/29/2015 11:04 pm »
Use of propulsion systems and other factors will force some developers to move to a 9U configuration, which I call a "FlatSat".


You will need a special launcher for a 9U. That will produce a big cost increase.

Offline mtakala24

Re: CubeSat and NanoSat Technology
« Reply #99 on: 03/30/2015 12:45 am »
Yes, I was trying also to get this discussion to the direction of non-standard dispensers, which would increase the cost for sure.

But what if those were simply scaled up CubeSat launchers? Is that even possible.. patented tech etc...?

 

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