Rapid, automated, test, verification and validation for the CubeSats

Yaseen Zaidi,Norman G Fitz Coy,Robert Van Zyl

doi:10.1504/ijspacese.2019.101412

Abstract

Bringing up of a small-scale mission assurance and engineering workflow is described. The experiences learned in the ZACUBE-1 mission prompted the development of an automated systems engineering platform leading to conformity in system design, test, and verification. The platform implements the methodology of systems engineering by coordinating diverse elements of the lifecycle and by incorporating the tools involved. The phase B/C activities of system modelling, simulations, prototyping, and design may be unified to a compounding effect and raising the level of the system view. The Verification and Validation (V&V) is achieved by integrating a test and measurement facility to the platform. With the platform, we accomplish rapid electrical and functional test and verification of the CubeSat subsystems and thermal validation in 20 °C to +50 °C cycle. The platform is automated by an application software which executes functional and thermal environment tests and provides support for requirements flow, system definition, embedded development, and simulations by integrating real-time target hardware. The platform is exploited in validating an S-band communications subsystem while economizing time and obtaining valuable insight into transmission performance under thermal loading.

Highlights

CubeSat Development is characterized by decisions in mission objectives, system requirements, payload/bus configurations and launcher selection that are often revised late in the engineering cycle
Technical needs analyses are under way for the procurement of the remaining elements that will upgrade the facility to full compliance toward suitable qualification level of space systems built with the Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) grade components
For the type of digital modulation schemes in the STX, the figures of merit of the RF transmission are based on the Vector Signal Analysis (VSA)

Summary

Introduction

CubeSat Development is characterized by decisions in mission objectives, system requirements, payload/bus configurations and launcher selection that are often revised late in the engineering cycle. In order to accelerate the development and to readily adjust to the project dynamics, the French South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI), through a systems engineering approach, is proceeding to develop a broader scope mission assurance facility. The vision behind the facility is about cutting the engineering cycle by overlapping the iterative phases of design, development, test, Verification and Validation (V&V), as soon as the prototypes are available. From the success and the lessons learned through the ZA-CUBE-1 mission, the expertise and legacy equipment are being reused to piece together a test automation setup in a phased way. This approach is adopted to avoid a hefty and immediate one-time investment. The priority of future qualification is on mechanical acceleration loads and vacuum cycled thermal loads

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Discussion

Conclusion