Development of the EIRSAT-1 CubeSat through Functional Verification of the Engineering Qualification Model
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Assembly, Integration, and Verification of EIRSAT-1
- the FlatSat assembly and test campaign,
- the system level assembly and ambient test campaign, and
- the system level environmental test campaign.
3. EIRSAT-1 Functional Tests
3.1. FlatSat Test Campaign
3.1.1. Test Prerequisites
3.1.2. Test Setup
3.1.3. Test Results
3.2. Full Functional Test Campaign
3.2.1. Test Prerequisites
3.2.2. Test Set-Up
3.2.3. Test Results
4. Discussion
5. Future Work
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
ADCS | Attitude determination and control system |
ADM | Antenna Deployment Module |
AIP | Assembly and integration procedure |
AIT | Assembly, integration, and test |
AIV | Assembly, integration, and verification |
COTS | Commercial off-the-shelf |
DM | Development model |
EIRSAT-1 | Educational Irish Research Satellite |
EMC | Electromagnetic compatibility |
EMOD | Enbio Module |
EPS | Electrical power supply |
ESA | European Space Agency |
EQM | Engineering qualification model |
FDIR | Fault detection, isolation, and recovery |
FDS | Fly Your Satellite! design specification |
FFT | Full functional test |
FM | Flight model |
FMEA | Failure mode and effects analysis |
FMECA | Failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis |
FTA | Fault tree analysis |
FYS! | Fly Your Satellite! |
GMOD | Gamma-ray Module |
GRB | Gamma-ray burst |
GSE | Ground support equipment |
LEO | Low Earth orbit |
MDV | Mass and dimensions verification |
OBC | On-board computer |
PCB | Printed circuit board |
PDM | Power distribution module |
PFM | Protoflight model |
RFT | Reduced functional test |
RRM | Risk response matrix |
QM | Qualification model |
TCA | Thermal coupon assembly |
TSpe | Test specification |
TPro | Test procedure |
TVAC | Thermal vacuum |
V&V | Verification and validation |
VP | Verification plan |
VRFT | Very reduced functional test |
WBC | Wave-Based Control |
References
- Heidt, H.; Puig-Suari, J.; Moore, A.; Nakasuka, S.; Twiggs, R. CubeSat: A New Generation of Picosatellite for Education and Industry Low-Cost Space Experimentation. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 21–24 August 2000. [Google Scholar]
- The CubeSat Program. CubeSat Design Specification Rev. 14; Technical Report CP-CDS-R14; California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly): San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, 2020. [Google Scholar]
- Twiggs, R. Origin of CubeSat. In Small Satellite: Past, Present and Future; Helvajian, H., Janson, S.W., Eds.; The Aerospace Press: El Segundo, CA, USA, 2008; Chapter 5; pp. 151–173. [Google Scholar]
- Deepak, R.A.; Twiggs, R.J. Thinking Outside the Box: Space Science Beyond the CubeSat. J. Small Satell. 2012, 1, 3–6. [Google Scholar]
- Suhadis, N.M. Statistical Overview of CubeSat Mission. In Proceedings of the International Conference of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering 2019, Penang, Malaysia, 20–21 November 2019; Rajendran, P., Mazlan, N.M., Rahman, A.A.A., Suhadis, N.M., Razak, N.A., Abidin, M.S.Z., Eds.; Springer: Singapore, 2020; pp. 563–573. [Google Scholar]
- Mero, B.; Quillien, K.; McRobb, M.; Chesi, S.; Marshall, R.; Gow, A.; Clark, C.; Anciaux, M.; Cardoen, P.; Keyser, J.D.; et al. PICASSO: A State of the Art CubeSat. In Proceedings of the 29th Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 8–13 August 2015. [Google Scholar]
- Evans, D. OPS-SAT: Operational Concept for ESA’S First Mission Dedicated to Operational Technology. In SpaceOps Conference 2016 Proceedings; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Reston, VA, USA, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Klesh, A.; Krajewski, J. MarCO: CubeSats to Mars in 2016. In Proceedings of the 29th Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 8–13 August 2015. [Google Scholar]
- Funase, R.; Ikari, S.; Miyoshi, K.; Kawabata, Y.; Nakajima, S.; Nomura, S.; Funabiki, N.; Ishikawa, A.; Kakihara, K.; Matsushita, S.; et al. Mission to Earth–Moon Lagrange Point by a 6U CubeSat: EQUULEUS. IEEE Aerosp. Electron. Syst. Mag. 2020, 35, 30–44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Straub, J.; Villela, T.; Costa, C.A.; Brandão, A.M.; Bueno, F.T.; Leonardi, R. Towards the Thousandth CubeSat: A Statistical Overview. Int. J. Aerosp. Eng. 2019, 2019, 5063145. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Swartwout, M. CubeSat Database. Available online: https://sites.google.com/a/slu.edu/swartwout/home/cubesat-database (accessed on 24 February 2021).
- Kulu, E. Nanosatellite and CubeSat Database. Available online: https://www.nanosats.eu/database (accessed on 24 February 2021).
- Alanazi, A.; Straub, J. Statistical Analysis of CubeSat Mission Failure. In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 4–9 August 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Swartwout, M. Reliving 24 Years in the next 12 Minutes: A Statistical and Personal History of University-Class Satellites. In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 4–9 August 2018. [Google Scholar]
- ECSS Secretariat. Space Engineering: System Engineering General Requirements; ECSS Standard ECSS-E-ST-10; European Cooperation For Space Standardisation: Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- ECSS Secretariat. Space Engineering: Testing; ECSS Standard ECSS-E-ST-10-03C; European Cooperation For Space Standardisation: Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2012. [Google Scholar]
- ECSS Secretariat. Tailored ECSS Engineering Standards for In-Orbit Demonstration CubeSat Projects; Ecss Standard; European Cooperation for Space Standardisation: Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Leandro Gomes Batista, C.; Corsetti, A.; Mattiello-Francisco, F. Using Fault Injection on the Nanosatellite Subsystems Integration Testing. arXiv 2021, arXiv:2102.11776. [Google Scholar]
- Cheong, J.W.; Southwell, B.J.; Andrew, W.; Aboutanios, E.; Lam, C.; Croston, T.; Li, L.; Green, S.; Kroh, A.; Glennon, E.P.; et al. A Robust Framework for Low-Cost Cubesat Scientific Missions. Space Sci. Rev. 2020, 216, 8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Corpino, S.; Stesina, F. Verification of a CubeSat via hardware-in-the-loop simulation. IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst. 2014, 50, 2807–2818. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kiesbye, J.; Messmann, D.; Preisinger, M.; Reina, G.; Nagy, D.; Schummer, F.; Mostad, M.; Kale, T.; Langer, M. Hardware-In-The-Loop and Software-In-The-Loop Testing of the MOVE-II CubeSat. Aerospace 2019, 6, 130. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Viquerat, A.; Schenk, M.; Lappas, V.; Sanders, B. Functional and Qualification Testing of the InflateSail Technology Demonstrator. In Proceedings of the 2nd AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference (AIAA SciTech), Kissimmee, FL, USA, 5–9 January 2015. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Monteiro, J.P.; Rocha, R.M.; Silva, A.; Afonso, R.; Ramos, N. Integration and Verification Approach of ISTSat-1 CubeSat. Aerospace 2019, 6, 131. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Praks, J.; Rizwan Mughal, M.; Vainio, R.; Janhunen, P.; Envall, J.; Oleynik, P.; Näsilä, A.; Leppinen, H.; Niemelä, P.; Slavinskis, A.; et al. Aalto-1, multi-payload CubeSat: Design, integration and launch. arXiv 2021, arXiv:2101.10691. [Google Scholar]
- Murphy, D.; Flanagan, J.; Thompson, J.; Doyle, M.; Erkal, J.; Gloster, A.; O’Toole, C.; Salmon, L.; Sherwin, D.; Walsh, S.; et al. EIRSAT-1—The Educational Irish Research Satellite. In Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Budapest, Hungary, 11–13 April 2018; pp. 201–205. [Google Scholar]
- Vanreusel, J. Fly Your Satellite! The ESA Academy CubeSats Programme. In Proceedings of the ITU Symposium & Workshop on Small Satellite Regulation and Communication Systems, Santiago de Chile, Chile, 7–9 November 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Duvaux-Béchon, I. ESA Education Office. In Proceedings of the Teach Space 2001: International Space Station Education Conference, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 26–28 October 2001; pp. 12–14. [Google Scholar]
- Marée, H.; Galeone, P.; Kinnaird, A.; Callens, N. The ESA Education Programme and its ESA Academy. In Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Leicester, UK, 16–18 September 2019; pp. 251–257. [Google Scholar]
- Murphy, D. A compact instrument for gamma-ray burst detection on a Cubesat platform I: Design drivers and expected performance. Exp. Astron. 2021, in press. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Murphy, D. A compact instrument for gamma-ray burst detection on a Cubesat platform II: Detailed design, assembly and validation. Exp. Astron. 2021, submitted. [Google Scholar]
- Sherwin, D.; Thompson, J.; McKeown, D.; O’Connor, W.; Sosa, V.U. Wave-based attitude control of EIRSAT-1, 2U cubesat. In Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Budapest, Hungary, 11–13 April 2018; pp. 273–277. [Google Scholar]
- Thompson, J.; Murphy, D.; Erkal, J.; Flanagan, J.; Doyle, M.; Gloster, A.; O’Toole, C.; Salmon, L.; Sherwin, D.; Walsh, S.; et al. Double dipole antenna deployment system for EIRSAT-1, 2U CubeSat. In Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Budapest, Hungary, 11–13 April 2018; pp. 221–225. [Google Scholar]
- Doyle, M.; Gloster, A.; O’Toole, C.; Mangan, J.; Murphy, D.; Dunwoody, R.; Emam, M.; Erkal, J.; Flanagan, J.; Fontanesi, G.; et al. Flight software development for the EIRSAT-1 mission. In Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Leicester, UK, 16–18 September 2019. [Google Scholar]
- Willingale, R.; Mészáros, P. Gamma-Ray Bursts and Fast Transients. Multi-wavelength Observations and Multi-messenger Signals. Space Sci. Rev. 2017, 207, 63–86. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Doherty, K.; Twomey, B.; McGlynn, S.; MacAuliffe, N.; Norman, A.; Bras, B.; Olivier, P.; McCaul, T.; Stanton, K. High-Temperature Solar Reflector Coating for the Solar Orbiter. J. Spacecr. Rocket. 2016, 53, 1–8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Doherty, K.A.; Carton, J.G.; Norman, A.; McCaul, T.; Twomey, B.; Stanton, K.T. A thermal control surface for the Solar Orbiter. Acta Astronaut. 2015, 117, 430–439. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- O’Connor, W.; de la Flor, F.R.; McKeown, D.; Feliu, V. Wave-based control of non-linear flexible mechanical systems. Nonlinear Dyn. 2008, 57, 113–123. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Müller, D.; St. Cyr, O.C.; Zouganelis, I.; Gilbert, H.R.; Marsden, R.; Nieves-Chinchilla, T.; Antonucci, E.; Auchère, F.; Berghmans, D.; Horbury, T.S.; et al. The Solar Orbiter mission. Science overview. Astron. Astrophys. 2020, 642, A1. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cho, M.; Hirokazu, M.; Graziani, F. Introduction to lean satellite and ISO standard for lean satellite. In Proceedings of the 2015 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technologies (RAST), Istanbul, Turkey, 16–19 June 2015; pp. 789–792. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cho, M.; Graziani, F. Lean Satellite Concept. In Proceedings of the 30th Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 6–11 August 2016. [Google Scholar]
- ECSS Secretariat. Space Engineering: Verification; ECSS Standard ECSS-E-ST-10-02C; European Cooperation for Space Standardisation: Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Menchinelli, A.; Ingiosi, F.; Pamphili, L.; Marzioli, P.; Patriarca, R.; Costantino, F.; Piergentili, F. A Reliability Engineering Approach for Managing Risks in CubeSats. Aerospace 2018, 5, 121. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Latachi, I.; Rachidi, T.; Karim, M.; Hanafi, A. Reusable and Reliable Flight-Control Software for a Fail-Safe and Cost-Efficient Cubesat Mission: Design and Implementation. Aerospace 2020, 7, 146. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gamble, K.; Lightsey, G. Application of Risk Management to University CubeSat Missions. J. Small Satell. 2013, 2, 147–160. [Google Scholar]
- Doyle, M.; Dunwoody, R.; Finneran, G.; Murphy, D.; Reilly, J.; Thompson, J.; Walsh, S.; Erkal, J.; Fontanesi, G.; Mangan, J.; et al. Mission testing for improved reliability of CubeSats. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Space Optics—ICSO 2020, Virtual, 30 March–2 April 2021; Cugny, B., Sodnik, Z., Karafolas, N., Eds.; International Society for Optics and Photonics, SPIE: Bellingham, WA, USA, 2021; Volume 11852, pp. 2717–2736. [Google Scholar]
- ECSS Secretariat. Space Engineering: Verification Guidelines; ECSS Standard ECSS-E-HB-10-02A; European Cooperation For Space Standardisation: Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2010. [Google Scholar]
- Walsh, S.; Murphy, D.; Doyle, M.; Thompson, J.; Dunwoody, R.; Emam, M.; Erkal, J.; Flanagan, J.; Fontanesi, G.; Gloster, A.; et al. Assembly, integration, and verification activities for a 2U CubeSat, EIRSAT-1. In Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Space Educational Activities, Leicester, UK, 16–18 September 2019. [Google Scholar]
- Busch, S.; Bangert, P.; Dombrovski, S.; Schilling, K. UWE-3, in-orbit performance and lessons learned of a modular and flexible satellite bus for future pico-satellite formations. Acta Astronaut. 2015, 117, 73–89. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Santoni, F.; Gugliermetti, L.; Piras, G.; De Pascale, S.; Pannico, A.; Piergentili, F.; Marzioli, P.; Frezza, L.; Amadio, D.; Gianfermo, A.; et al. GreenCube: Microgreens cultivation and growth monitoring on-board a 3U CubeSat. In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE 7th International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace (MetroAeroSpace), Pisa, Italy, 22–24 June 2020; pp. 130–135. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mangan, J.; Murphy, D.; Dunwoody, R.; Ulyanov, A.; Thompson, J.; Javaid, U.; O’Toole, C.; Doyle, M.; Emam, M.; Erkal, J.; et al. The environmental test campaign of GMOD: A novel gamma-ray detector. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Space Optics—ICSO 2020, Virtual, 30 March–2 April 2021; Cugny, B., Sodnik, Z., Karafolas, N., Eds.; International Society for Optics and Photonics, SPIE: Bellingham, WA, USA, 2021; Volume 11852, pp. 489–509. [Google Scholar]
- Gebara, C.; Spencer, D. Verification and Validation Methods for the Prox-1 Mission. In Proceedings of the 30th Annual AIAA/USU Small Satellite Conference, Logan, UT, USA, 6–11 August 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Dunwoody, R.; Doyle, M.; Murphy, D.; Finneran, G.; O’Callaghan, D.; Marshall, F.; McBreen, S. Development and validation of the operations procedures and manual for a 2U CubeSat EIRSAT-1, with three novel payloads. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Space Operations 2021, Cape Town, South Africa, 3–5 May 2021; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Reston, VA, USA, 2021. [Google Scholar]
SS | Test Activity | VRFT | RFT | FlatSat | FFT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ADCS | Bus voltage and current health check | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Send GPS state vectors to ADCS MB | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Excite sun sensors (5 CSS, 1 FSS) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
MTQs duty cycle drives to 25, 50, 75, 100% | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Excite MTMs and gyroscopes | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
ADCS controller state and output | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
ADCS sun vector production | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
EPS/Battery | Charge via PSU and/or solar cells | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Over-current protection limit trip | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |
Under-voltage protection function activation | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ * | |
RBF power ON/OFF and timer resets | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Inhibit power ON/OFF and timer resets | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Essential loads operating at S/C power ON | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Voltage measurements of PDMs | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ * | ✗ | |
Comms | OBC reset upon receipt of DTMF tone | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Uplink packets over VHF at 1200 bps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Downlink packets over UHF at 9600 bps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Receive beacon transmission every 90 s | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Cease/restart beacon and RF transmissions | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
OBC | Oldest data overwritten when storage is full | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Execute operational mode transitions | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Spacecraft power cycle via OBC reset | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Read all internal PCB temperature sensors | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Read and write spacecraft database parameters | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Invoke spacecraft database actions | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
ADM | Antenna deployment via primary resistors | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Antenna deployment via secondary resistors | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | |
Status of release detection switches on doors | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | |
Configure resistor burn times | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Low battery voltage deployment | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |
EMOD | Read all RTD temperatures | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Configure RTD sampling rate | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |
Poll different combinations of RTDs | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |
Upload and rewrite new motherboard firmware | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Payload power cycle | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
GMOD | Initiate data collection with radioactive source | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Configure bias offset value of SiPMs | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Perform configuration check | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Upload and rewrite new motherboard firmware | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Payload power cycle | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Walsh, S.; Murphy, D.; Doyle, M.; Reilly, J.; Thompson, J.; Dunwoody, R.; Erkal, J.; Finneran, G.; Fontanesi, G.; Mangan, J.; et al. Development of the EIRSAT-1 CubeSat through Functional Verification of the Engineering Qualification Model. Aerospace 2021, 8, 254. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090254
Walsh S, Murphy D, Doyle M, Reilly J, Thompson J, Dunwoody R, Erkal J, Finneran G, Fontanesi G, Mangan J, et al. Development of the EIRSAT-1 CubeSat through Functional Verification of the Engineering Qualification Model. Aerospace. 2021; 8(9):254. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090254
Chicago/Turabian StyleWalsh, Sarah, David Murphy, Maeve Doyle, Jack Reilly, Joseph Thompson, Rachel Dunwoody, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Gianluca Fontanesi, Joseph Mangan, and et al. 2021. "Development of the EIRSAT-1 CubeSat through Functional Verification of the Engineering Qualification Model" Aerospace 8, no. 9: 254. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8090254