QuickStar: Rapid access to space for small scientific payloads

Abstract

At the advent of the United States space program, small low-cost satellite systems permitted scientific researchers timely access to space to perform a wide range of scientific experiments. More recently, however, high cost and the lack of launch opportunities have precluded most space experimentors, whether they are student scientists at the university level of government agency researchers, from ever participating in an actual space flight experiment. This paper discusses the development of a small highly capable, low-cost, light-weight satellite system using modern design techniques capable of carrying scientific experiments into space at a tenth the cost of current much larger and more costly space systems. Included are system design, technology applications, and the payload capabilities range (mass, power, data rate, pointing, volume, etc.) of this light-weight spacecraft. Also, as part of the overall small satellite system architecture, we have designed and constructed a low-cost multi-purpose transportable ground station to support production, test, launch, and orbit operations of the space segment. Finally, the paper will address the first flight of the prototype satellite system and its performance while on orbit.