Abstract
We present a model for predicting the temperature of three-unit CubeSat on a low Earth orbit, which supposes a single temperature common to all satellite components. Our exposition includes a detailed, to a large extent analytical, computation of the external heat fluxes for a particular orbit and spacecraft assumptions based on the features foreseen for satellite Libertad 2 under development at Universidad Sergio Arboleda. Moreover, supported by specialized thermal analysis software, we compute the heat fluxes and their associated temperature for all possible orbital orientations, and combine these results with a description of the satellite orbital plane rotation (nodal regression) and the solar motion on the ecliptic, to determine the minima and maxima of the orbital temperature oscillation for a mission lifetime of a year. We find that, for feasible model parameters, the temperature extremes are mostly within the operating temperature range of the most sensitive satellite component, 0 °C ≤ T ≤ 60 °C, suggesting mission viability. Finally, we discuss possible model improvements which would allow testing of satellite design upgrades. In this regard, it is worth noting that the calculation of the external heat fluxes here described can be carried over, almost unchanged, to a more accurate model describing heat transfer between satellite parts with different temperatures.
Highlights
The Universidad Sergio Arboleda of Bogotá, Colombia, is building a nano-satellite with the main goal of capturing photographs of Earth’s surface, with potential use in precision agriculture
We carried out a preliminary thermal analysis of a three-unit CubeSat with the features envisioned for satellite Libertad 2, under development at Universidad Sergio Arboleda (Bogota, Colombia)
The time-periodic fluxes were included into a differential equation model describing the evolution of a single temperature, assumed shared by all satellite components
Summary
The Universidad Sergio Arboleda of Bogotá, Colombia, is building a nano-satellite (for a classification of satellites according to their mass see Fortescue et al 2003) with the main goal of capturing photographs of Earth’s surface, with potential use in precision agriculture. Libertad 2 constitutes the continuation of Universidad Sergio Arboleda’s satellite development program started by pico-satellite Libertad 1 (1U, NORAD Catalog Number 31128), launched on April 17, 2007 (Joya 2007; NASA 2014). The CubeSat standard was developed in 1999 with the objective, among others, of facilitating the involvement of universities in the aerospace industry. This goal could be evaluated as “fulfilled” on the basis of a review by Swartwout (2013), that counted 77 university-led CubeSat-class missions out of a total of 112, between 2000 and 2012. The same review reports that university missions have been plagued by a high rate of unsuccessful missions, contributing 27 out of the total 34 failures. To channel fruitfully this interest, it is urgent to develop resources for a rapid
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