Tesseract CubeSat Bus with Deployable Solar Panels

This project will aim to create a new CubeSat satellite structure that incorporates new subsystems to increase the manufacturability and versatility of PolySat’s standard satellite architecture. This new structure will incorporate deployable solar panels into the system, increasing power generation for the satellite. The structure of the CubeSat is vital to the overall system’s performance, and developing a standard high-performance system will allow for the integration of various payloads while minimizing the need for mission-specific customizations. This project will also allow for a majority of the structure to be manufactured in-house in the Cal Poly machine shops, allowing for the direct application of learn-by-doing. The integration of deployable solar panels will also involve design and fabrication of circuit boards. To complete these goals, we will leverage experience that we have had with the design and construction of previous CubeSats. Moreover, students have a chance to incorporate design processes that they have learned in various Cal Poly courses. This new structure will allow us to push the limits on what we can do with our already powerful CubeSat design. The design will allow us to provide higher performance to possible project sponsors, thus increasing the chance of winning future project proposals. Winning project proposals not only brings in funding for PolySat research projects, but also facilitates campus-wide development by bringing in additional funds for the university