Analysis of Verification and Validation Techniques for Educational CubeSat Programs

Since their creation, CubeSats have become a valuable educational tool for university science and engineering programs. Unfortunately, while aerospace companies invest resources to develop verification and validation methodologies based on larger-scale aerospace projects, university programs tend to focus resources on spacecraft development. This paper looks at two different types of methodologies in an attempt to improve CubeSat reliability: generating software requirements and utilizing system and software architecture modeling. Both the Consortium Requirements Engineering (CoRE) method for software requirements and the Monterey Phoenix modeling language for architecture modeling were tested for usability in the context of PolySat, Cal Poly\u27s CubeSat research program. In the end, neither CoRE nor Monterey Phoenix provided the desired results for improving PolySat\u27s current development procedures. While a modified version of CoRE discussed in this paper does allow for basic software requirements to be generated, the resulting specification does not provide any more granularity than PolySat\u27s current institutional knowledge. Furthermore, while Monterey Phoenix is a good tool to introduce students to model-based systems engineering (MBSE) concepts, the resulting graphs generated for a PolySat specific project were high-level and did not find any issues previously discovered through trial and error methodologies. While neither method works for PolySat, the aforementioned results do provide benefits for university programs looking to begin developing CubeSats

The Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) Ground Station Network

NASA Smallsat Virtual Institute Webina

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

The Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) Ground Station Network: An Overview and Look Ahead

The Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) ground station network is a Department of Defense (DoD)-led effort to build common-use infrastructure supporting communications and mission operations of small satellites for a wide range of US government organizations, contractors, universities, and foreign partners. The network consists of low-cost ground station terminals fielded at participating institutions, providing operators bent-pipe access to their satellites from any location with an internet connection. MC3 currently consists of eight active stations, and three international collaborators. One of the most important aspects of the ground station network has been the diverse community of small satellite users that have come together to share capabilities of mutual interest. This paper describes the MC3 network and presents an overview of cost-effective future capabilities that will benefit researchers flying experiments on small satellites. Key capabilities include the Satellite Agile Transmit and Receive Network (SATRN) software, flexible software-defined radio architectures, fast-track radio licensing, expanded frequency support, and integration into secure cloud-based infrastructure. The paper also highlights some of the research undertaken at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) which utilizes the MC3 network and the satellites it operates as a testbed for advanced concepts. Research topics include optimization of constellation operations, predictive modeling of pass quality, and representative communications experiments flown on high altitude balloons and high power rockets

Analysis and recommendations for a comprehensive economic development strategy for the Mid-East Commission economic development district: Region "Q"

This document is intended to help the Mid-East Commission comply with the content requirements for the 2009 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) documents as articulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration