Mission Test Campaign for the EIRSAT-1 Engineering Qualification Model

Doyle, Maeve; Dunwoody, Rachel; Finneran, Gabriel; Murphy, David; Reilly, Jack; Thompson, Joseph; Akarapu, Sai Krishna Reddy; Mangan, Joseph; Walsh, Sarah; Erkal, Jessica; Marshall, Fergal; Salmon, Lána; Somers, Eoghan; Ha, Lily; Palma, David; Martín-Carrillo, A.; McBreen, S.; McKeown, David; O’Connor, William; Shortt, Brian; Uliyanov, Alexey; Wall, Ronan; Hanlon, L.

doi:10.3390/aerospace9020100

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Mission testing: in which the performance of the complete satellite system, as configured for flight, is tested as part of a mission simulation 66 , 67 …”

Section: Development and Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…65 • Mission testing: in which the performance of the complete satellite system, as configured for flight, is tested as part of a mission simulation. 66,67 • Environmental testing: in which the satellite is subject to representative spaceflight conditions, including vibration and thermal vacuum testing, with functional checks prior to, during, and after the tests. 68 6 Lessons Learned EIRSAT-1's main flight software was developed with an overarching aim of maximizing the likelihood of mission success given the project's highly constrained resources and initial lack of expertise.…”

Section: Integration and Hil Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design, development and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Doyle

Gloster

Griffin

et al. 2023

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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The capabilities of CubeSats have grown significantly since the first of these small satellites was launched in the early 2000s. These capabilities enable a wide range of mission profiles, with CubeSats emerging as viable platforms for certain space-based astronomical research applications. The Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1) is a CubeSat being developed as part of the European Space Agency's Fly Your Satellite! program. In addition to its educational aims, the mission is driven by several scientific and technological goals, including goals related to a novel gamma-ray instrument for the detection of bright transient astrophysical sources, such as gamma-ray bursts. This work provides a detailed description of the software development life-cycle for EIRSAT-1, addressing the design, development and testing of robust flight software, aspects of payload interfacing, and risk mitigation. The described design-to-testing approach was implemented to establish, prior to launch, that EIRSAT-1 can perform its intended mission. Constraints and challenges typically experienced by CubeSat teams, which can impact the likelihood of mission success, are considered throughout this work, and lessons learned are discussed. The aim of this work is to highlight the advanced capabilities of CubeSats while providing a useful resource for teams implementing their own flight software. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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“…Mission testing: in which the performance of the complete satellite system, as configured for flight, is tested as part of a mission simulation 66 , 67 …”

Section: Development and Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Integration and Hil Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, development and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Doyle

Gloster

Griffin

et al. 2023

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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“…2, and provides further confidence in the ability of the system to perform its intended mission on-orbit. The EQM mission test began in early August 2021 (Figure 2) and ran for 27 days continuously [12]. Team members took on the role of 'spacecraft operator', acting within the constraints of real on-orbit operations (e.g., limited 2-way communication passes) to control the mission.…”

Section: Mission Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EQM mission test was largely a success in terms of achieving the predefined test objectives. The team also gained valuable operations experience through the simulation [12].…”

Section: Mission Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Update on the status of the Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1)

Doyle¹,

Murphy²,

Reilly³

et al. 2022

4th Symposium on Space Educational Activities

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The Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, is a 2U CubeSat being implemented by a student-led team at University College Dublin, as part of the 2nd round of the European Space Agency’s Fly Your Satellite! programme. In development since 2017, the mission has several scientific, technological and outreach goals. It will fly an in-house developed antenna deployment module, along with three custom payloads, which are integrated with commercial off-the-shelf subsystems. In preparation for the flight model, a full-system engineering qualification model of the spacecraft has undergone an extensive period of test campaigns, including full functional tests, a mission test, and environmental testing at the European Space Agency’s CubeSat Support Facility in Redu, Belgium. Beyond the technical, educational, and capacity-building goals of the mission, EIRSAT-1 aims to inspire wider study of STEM subjects, while highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary teams and creating greater awareness of space in everyday life. A wide range of outreach activities are being undertaken to realise these aims. This paper provides a status update on key aspects of the EIRSAT-1 project and the next steps towards launch

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“…The satellite contains three novel payloads and a custom antenna deployment module that are supported by an AAC Clyde Space Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) platform which has been adapted to interface with these novel hardware components [1]. Combining COTS components with in-house developed hardware, software and firmware results in a complex system which requires extensive testing [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University of Nottingham Student space activities to enrich the traditional curriculum

Reilly¹,

Murphy²,

Doyle³

et al. 2022

4th Symposium on Space Educational Activities

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The Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat being designed, built and tested at University College Dublin. A FlatSat platform known as EIRFLAT-1 has been constructed to enable the testing and development of the CubeSat. EIRFLAT-1 facilitates the electrical connections between CubeSat components while leaving key interfaces accessible for test equipment and allowing for the hot swapping of components. Commercial Off The Shelf and in-house developed hardware has been tested using EIRFLAT-1 at component, subsystem and full system level. In addition, the FlatSat has been used for flight software development. This paper describes the design of EIRFLAT-1 including electrical and mechanical components and additional ground support equipment developed to assist in the testing and development activities. EIRFLAT-1 has proven to be an invaluable tool for testing and has led to the discovery of issues and unexpected behaviour with flight hardware which would have contributed to schedule delays if undiscovered until after the satellite was assembled. Moreover, EIRFLAT-1 facilitated early and incremental testing of both software and operations procedures. The schematics for the electrical design of EIRFLAT-1, which is compatible with all CubeSat Kit PC/104 components, has been made publicly available for use by other educational CubeSat teams

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Mission Test Campaign for the EIRSAT-1 Engineering Qualification Model

Cited by 6 publications

References 21 publications

Design, development and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Design, development and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Update on the status of the Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1)

University of Nottingham Student space activities to enrich the traditional curriculum

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