CHIPSat - An Affordable & Capable Microsatellite Solution

Abstract

1.0 ABSTRACT In 1999, SpaceDev was selected as the spacecraft bus provider, integrator, and mission operator of the University of California Berkeley (UCB) Space Sciences Laboratory’s (SSL) Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) science mission. CHIPS is NASA’s first-ever University Explorer (UNEX) class project. It was launched January 12, 2003 and is successfully accomplishing its mission. CHIPSat is a 40-kg, 30-watt average payload power, and 3-axis stabilized satellite bus designed and built for under $6M. The project was indeed a challenge due to the fact that its first major review came on the heels of NASA’s Mars mission failures. As a result, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was suddenly unwilling to accept as much of the risk once associated with the envisioned small, low-cost missions of UNEX. Even with NASA providing a “Hubble-class” review team to help guarantee success, the key to survival was staying true to an elegantly simple but robust design all the way through build and test. This paper will detail the key technology enablers of this design and how they can be implemented to provide a foundation for rapid access, low-cost and lightweight microsatellites capable of meeting military mission requirements. It will demonstrate how the military community can benefit from the programmatic and technical lessons learned and transition from NASA’s proof of concept to a future operational microsatellite solution.