Abstract
The CANYVAL-C (CubeSat Astronomy by NASA and Yonsei using a virtual telescope alignment for coronagraph) is a space science demonstration mission that involves taking several images of the solar corona with two CubeSats—1U CubeSat (Timon) and 2U CubeSat (Pumbaa)—in formation flying. In this study, we developed and evaluated structural and thermal designs of the CubeSats Timon and Pumbaa through finite element analyses, considering the nonlinearity effects of the nylon wire of the deployable solar panels installed in Pumbaa. On-orbit thermal analyses were performed with an accurate analytical model for a visible camera on Timon and a micro propulsion system on Pumbaa, which has a narrow operating temperature range. Finally, the analytical models were correlated for enhancing the reliability of the numerical analysis. The test results indicated that the CubeSats are structurally safe with respect to the launch environment and can activate each component under the space thermal environment. The natural frequency of the nylon wire for the deployable solar panels was found to increase significantly as the wire was tightened strongly. The conditions of the thermal vacuum and cycling testing were implemented in the thermal analytical model, which reduced the differences between the analysis and testing.
Highlights
CubeSats are cheaper and faster than conventional satellites for space exploration owing to the standardized configurations of CubeSats bus and miniaturization of payload.CubeSat platforms have been applied for multi-satellite missions, such as constellation missions and formation flying missions [1]
We developed a structural-thermal design of 1U and 2U CubeSat to ensure safety in the launch and space environments
The structural and thermal design was executed based on numerical analysis using the finite element analyses (FEAs)
Summary
CubeSats are cheaper and faster than conventional satellites for space exploration owing to the standardized configurations of CubeSats bus and miniaturization of payload. Vibration testing was conducted in a simulated launch environment to validate the structural design. We present and validate the structural and thermal design of the CubeSats for the CANYVAL-C mission through FEAs and environmental tests. The structural designs of each CubeSat were developed considering the relevant coupling effects with respect to the launch environment, including the configuration of the DSP and the HRM, and arrangements of each component in the frame. The camera on Timon, the microPPS on Pumbaa, and the Li-Polymer (LiPo) battery on both have very narrow operating temperature ranges They require active or passive thermal control with accurate predictions of the temperature change profiles of each component. Based on the correlated analytical model, the structural characteristics of the two CubeSats with different sizes, which cause temperature differences, were studied.
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