Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Cubesat Conceptual Design Tool And Implementation Of The Eps Design Module, Sean K. Nogrady

Master's Theses

This thesis is the product of an effort to develop a CubeSat Conceptual Design Tool for the California Polytechnic State University CubeSat Laboratory. Such a tool is necessary due to inefficiencies with the current conceptual design process. It is being developed to increase accessibility, reduce design time, and promote good systems engineering within CubeSat development.

The development of the architecture of a conceptual design tool, the core user-interface element, and the completion of a module for the electrical power subsystem is the focus of this thesis. The architecture is built around different modules to design different subsystems that work in …

A Reference Architecture For Rapid Cubesat Development, Sean R. Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

The CubeSat class of nanosatellites has lowered the barrier of entry to space and has rapidly gained popularity in recent years. To successfully design a CubeSat system in a rapid cycle conducive to academic timelines, a Reference Architecture geared towards University CubeSat development would be helpful. A Reference Architecture would speed up the development process by providing a template, capturing previous work and lessons learned from subject matter experts, providing a framework to focus on the CubeSats design rather than the fine details of modeling software. A Reference Architecture can also add functionality that student teams could use and improve …

Comparison Of Decision Analysis Methods For A Cubesat Propulsion System, Jared L. Pilcher

Theses and Dissertations

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is becoming an increasingly congested orbital regime. As a result, propulsion systems on CubeSats are becoming a more desirable feature to provide them with collision avoidance capabilities. To date, there have been very few CubeSat launches with a propulsion system on them. Due to the relatively high cost of a propulsion system compared to the budget of small educational organizations, a decision analysis model is needed so that these organizations can make the best decision between whether to purchase a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product or to develop one within the organization. This research applies three decision analysis …

Cubesat Development Framework, William D. Sousa

Theses and Dissertations

AFITs Center for Space Research and Assurance (CSRA) has developed several small satellites without a detailed developmental framework in place but future work will focus on CubeSat development with the intent of managing multiple builds concurrently. With the goal of each satellite being completed in three years, a comprehensive process needs to be established. Research revealed that the Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Air Force (USAF), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) guidance on the acquisition and systems engineering processes require more reviews and deliverables than appropriate for CSRAs projects. The development processes from other universities divulge some aspects …

Increasing The Reliability Of Software Systems On Small Satellites Using Software-Based Simulation Of The Embedded System, Matthew D. Grubb

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The utility of Small Satellites (SmallSats) for technology demonstrations and scientific research has been proven over the past few decades by governments, universities, and private companies. While the research and technology demonstration objectives that can be provided by these SmallSats are becoming similar to larger spacecraft, their reliability still falls behind. This is in part due to the reduced cost of SmallSat missions in comparison to large spacecraft, which requires cheaper components, rapid development schedules, and accepted risk. In these missions, the importance of the flight software is often overlooked, and the software is rushed through development and not fully …