Measuring a CubeSat attitude from the ground

and atmospheric re-entry

2nd June 2010 – Madeira, Portugal

C. Capela, J. Gomes, R. Pinho, S. Cunha

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 Why a CubeSat at UoP?

Previous experience with a stratospheric balloon program –

STRAPLEX;
Set of organized students and teachers interested in aeronautics
and space activities…

… aiming at education oriented satellite development;

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 Mission Goals

Attitude determination Controlled

from the ground de-orbiting Re-entry

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

3 (patch) antennas/face

1 pair at a time

2.45 GHz

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

 f1  f 0  f f 0  2,45GHz
A1 
 f2  f0 f  1KHz
A 2  f 3  f 0  f

1 , 2 , 3 Phases of the 3
frequencies as received at
A1
A
1 d GS, in cycles

d Dsen( )
D (1  2 )  (2  3 )   
α  
A2
α

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

1. Phase difference between one

pair of antennas provides one
angle of attitude

A
A1 1

A2

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

1. Phase difference between one

pair of antennas provides one
angle of attitude
2. Other phase difference gives
the second angle

A3
A
1

A2

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

1. Phase difference between one

pair of antennas provides one
angle of attitude
2. Other phase difference gives is
the second angle
3. Third angle given by the
change of angle of sight

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

vorsat@fe.up.pt | twitter.com/vorsat | facebook.com/vorsat

 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

10

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 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

11

vorsat@fe.up.pt | twitter.com/vorsat | facebook.com/vorsat

 Mission
Attitude determination from the ground using RF signals

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vorsat@fe.up.pt | twitter.com/vorsat | facebook.com/vorsat

 Ground Station
UoP - Faculty of Engineering

3 m parabolic dish antenna

Yagi antennas (1.2GHz; 433MHz;
145MHz) with circular polarization;

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 De-Orbit
Adjust drag coefficient regardless VORSat attitude

Drag adjustment using control loop with feedback from GPS

Capsule release soon before significant deceleration (1/10 g)

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 De-Orbit
3
Along track landing distance variation due to +/-50% density (blue) and +/-20% drag (red) variations
10
Orbit variation (orbits, blue and red) and ETA (hours, green)

2
10

1
10

0
10

-1
10

-2
10

-3
10
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300
Altitude (Km)

Capsule Release Spoilers actuation

15

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 Re-entry
Adjust drag coeficient

Capsule Release (TBD)

Atmospheric re-entry

Splashdown /Recovery

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 Re-entry
Oscillation dumping system

433 MHz Tx (ARGOS)

Flash memory with detailed mission log

Battery

Power generation mechanism – TBD

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 Challenges

Combination of solar panels with antennas in order to maximize

the exposure area and power provided

Multiple face GPS antenna array

Structure made of CFRP

Re-entry of a CubeSat

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 Work in progress

VORSat principle for attitude determination has been proved

viable with lab tests;

First draft of hardware requirements and layout for the VORSat

defined;

Capsule hardware layout - Design Review soon;

Capsule release mechanism TBD;

Structural simulation (FEMA) at an initial stage;

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 Facilities

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 Partners
DEEC

DEMec

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 Thank You!
2nd June 2010 – Madeira, Portugal

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