Mission testing for improved reliability of CubeSats

Abstract

CubeSats are a small satellite technology that first emerged in the space sector in the early 2000s. Their low-cost, fast-delivery design has made space more accessible, leading to a significant increase in the number of satellites launched per year as well as the number of nations launching satellites. As an example, the Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, is a CubeSat being developed by a student-led team at University College Dublin, aiming to launch Ireland's first satellite. Originally viewed as educational tools, the capabilities of CubeSats to satisfy a wide range of aims, from technology demonstration to Earth observation and scientific aims, is growing as these satellite platforms advance. However, following two decades of launches, an issue still facing their success as a disruptive technology is the high failure rate of CubeSats. This is a result of the CubeSat design philosophy where, in lieu of challenging resource demands, higher levels of risk are more acceptable compared to conventional space missions. In an effort to reduce these risks, this work presents an overview and highlights the benefits of a testing technique, known as Mission Testing. Mission Testing differs from other satellite testing in that flight representative conditions are simulated during the test. This aspect of the test mitigates risks not addressed elsewhere, such as risks related to the order and duration of operations, and also offers a number of unique benefits, such as operations training for the Mission Control Team. As part of this work, results of a survey disseminated to CubeSat teams are presented, where the aspects of Mission Testing considered most valuable and lessons learned in light of on-orbit operations are identified. How these results have helped shape the Mission Test plans for the EIRSAT-1 mission are also discussed and overview of the test plans are presented. In addition to the benefits for EIRSAT-1, this study aims to provide a resource for CubeSat teams in general, wanting to improve mission reliability through comprehensive Mission Testing.

Telescope Concepts in Gamma-Ray Astronomy

“…Other concepts under development for future γ-ray missions include CubeSats, a small satellite technology that can make space observations more readily accessible thanks to their low cost and fast-delivery design [150]. COMCUBE, for example, is a project under development with a goal of using a Compton polarimeter to measure the polarisation of bright GRBs [151].…”

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

“…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 …”

“…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.…”

Embedded Firmware Development for a Novel CubeSat Gamma-Ray Detector

“…While the MSP430 performs to the required specifications for EIRSAT-1, with the future aim of scaling the GMOD instrument up, it is likely that a bespoke systemon-a-chip would be required to handle the rates expected from a larger instrument. Development is currently on going with this firmware, which is not yet considered flight ready, but will be further improved and developed with rigorous testing of specific loading cases and a verification in the full functional [37] and mission testing [38] of the EIRSAT-1 Engineering Qualification Model and the Flight Model thereafter.…”