Abstract
In conjunction with the international collaborative project of ESEMS (Experimental Scientific Education Micro Satellite) whose goal is to develop an experimental scientific-education microsatellite with science payloads, a team consisting of professors and students from the National Central University (NCU) has designed and fabricated a set of space flight instruments for space weather studies. The Block of Central University (BCU) made payload has been flown successfully on boardTatiana-2. To our knowledge, the BCU payload is the very first successful satellite payload which has been developed from design and component selection to the completion of the flight module mainly by students and faculty on the NCU campus in Taiwan. This paper describes some details of the engineering effort in building the BCU payload, including sensing devices (ETP and MRM), data processing unit, and power supply. Samples of flight data acquired by BCU are also presented to show that all units of the BCU system and payload-spacecraft interfaces functioned well as expected. The flight data provides direct evidence that the NCU team is capable of developing spaceflight quality instruments for future satellite missions.
Highlights
Tatiana-2 is one of the ESEMS (Experimental Scientific Education Micro Satellite) microsatellites, and was launched on 17 September 2009 into a pre-noon (8.93 LT) to pre-midnight sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of ~827 - 836 km with an orbital inclination angle of 98.785° (Kalegaev 2009)
In this paper we report the engineering efforts in completing a space qualified Block of Central University (BCU) payload on board the Tatiana-2 satellite
The BCU payload is the first scientific satellite payload designed and built entirely by the team from National Central University in Taiwan, and the first Taiwanese scientific payload to be placed aboard a Russian satellite
Summary
Tatiana-2 is one of the ESEMS (Experimental Scientific Education Micro Satellite) microsatellites, and was launched on 17 September 2009 into a pre-noon (8.93 LT) to pre-midnight sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of ~827 - 836 km with an orbital inclination angle of 98.785° (Kalegaev 2009). In addition to identifying the proper sensor set for science, what we were most concerned with were the various interfaces between payload and satellite such as communication, power supply and data handling, since this was our first payload designed for use aboard a Russian satellite. To simplify the power supply interface, the cluster has its own switching DC-DC converters The function of these converters is to covert the most commonly used satellite voltage 28 ~ 34 V to a voltage of ±5 and 12 V DC for internal use of the BCU sensors. The most important design feature of the NCU cluster is its own flight computer as a data processing unit (DPU) to simplify the data handling interface for the signal sensing device to read, and increase payload flexibility of the satellite.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
