Abstract
This paper presents the development of the UPMSat-2 sun sensor, from the design to on-orbit operation. It also includes the testing of the instrument, one of the most important tasks that needs to be performed to operate a sensor with precision. The UPMSat-2 solar sensor has been designed, tested, and manufactured at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) using 3D printing and COTS (photodiodes). The work described in this paper was carried out by students and teachers of the Master in Space Systems (Máster Universitario en Sistemas Espaciales—MUSE). The solar sensor is composed of six photodiodes that are divided into two sets; each set is held and oriented on the satellite by its corresponding support printed in Delrin. The paper describes the choice of components, the electrical diagram, and the manufacture of the supports. The methodology followed to obtain the response curve of each photodiode is simple and inexpensive, as it requires a limited number of instruments and tools. The selected irradiance source was a set of red LEDs and halogen instead of an AM0 spectrum irradiance simulator. Some early results from the UPMSat-2 mission have been analyzed in the present paper. Data from magnetometers and the attitude control system have been used to validate the data obtained from the sun sensor. The results indicate a good performance of the sensors during flight, in accordance with the data from the ground tests.
Highlights
This paper presents the development of the UPMSat-2 sun sensor, from the design to on-orbit operation
The work described in this paper was carried out by students and teachers of the Master in Space Systems (Máster Universitario en Sistemas Espaciales—MUSE)
The solar sensor is composed of six photodiodes that are divided into two sets; each set is held and oriented on the satellite by its corresponding support printed in Delrin
Summary
On 2 September 2020, the UPMSat-2 was launched as part of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (PoC) VEGA flight. The UPMSat-2 is a 50 kg satellite designed, developed, and tested at the Instituto Universitario de Microgravedad “Ignacio Da Riva” (IDR/UPM) from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). This satellite represents a successful project of space systems engineering that gathered university research and payloads from different companies (Bartington, Tecnobit, SSBV, Iberespacio, etc.). The validation of the COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) photodiodes-based sun sensor designed, built, and tested for this mission at the IDR/UPM Institute. Most of the photodiode calibration techniques found in the available literature are based on the simulation of the AM0 spectrum [7,13,14], but this normally requires specific instrumentation and can increase the development cost of the solar sensor.
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