The mission objective of STEP Cube Lab. (Cube Laboratory for Space Technology Experimental Project) classified as a pico-class satellite is to verify the technical effectiveness of payloads such as variable emittance radiator, SMA washer, oscillating heat pipe and MEMS based solid propellant thruster researched at domestic universities. In addition, the MEMS concentrating photovoltaic power system and the non-explosive holding and separation mechanism with the advantages of high constraint force and low shock level will be developed as the primary payloads for on-orbit verification. In this study, the feasibility of the mission actualization has been confirmed by the preliminary system design.
Nylon wire cutting method by nichrome wire is generally applicable for cube satellite applications due to its advantages of simplicity. However, the system complexity is not avoidable to apply it on the cube satellite with multi-deployable structures. A lower constraint force of the mechanism is also one of the disadvantages of the mechanism. In this study, we proposed a preliminary structure design of cube satellite with the separation mechanism which is applicable for holding and release of the multi-deployable structures. The effectiveness of the mechanism design was verified through function test of EM mechanism. The structure analysis results showed that the structure design proposed in this study is feasible.
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