SPACE & SATELLITE SYSTEMS at UC Davis
Mission: REALOP
Remote Experimentation and Analysis of Low Orbit Phenomenon
CubeSat: Space Block
Our goal is to provide undergraduates with hands-on experience by designing, testing, and manufacturing CubeSats. Our REALOP mission satellite also known as "Space Block" will be a technical demonstration mission as well as an imaging platform used to study the Earth's oceans, forests, and atmosphere. This mission will also prove that our in-house developed components function as they should on orbit. In order to help prove our technology demonstration is feasible, amateur radio will be utilized in order to communicate with REALOP as well as obtain telemetry data from our desired systems. In conjunction with AMSAT, we will not only publish the information we downlink, but also make the information available to the greater amateur radio community worldwide via the use of FoxTelem.
Disclaimer: Videos are not accurate, but are used as a representation of lifecyle
This meeting was a welcome presentation to students interested in joining SSS at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Club leadership presented on club operations and guest speakers reminisced on their time in the club.
The audio cuts out in some parts of the video, so it is recommended you watch with captions on for the best experience. Hope you enjoy.
Ad Astra!
2021 General Meeting
SubSystems
ADCS
Intelligence of CubeSat
How do you know which way your satellite is pointing? How do you turn your satellite to point in the direction you want and maintain that direction? The Attitude Determination and Control Systems team, or ADCS, tackles these questions by using a combination of sensors, software, and actuators. ADCS requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining physics and math with electrical, computer science, mechanical, and aerospace engineering.
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Computer Systems Team
Flight Software
Brain of CubeSat
All things software. We are the glue that connects all the pieces of the satellite together. Ranging from sensor interfaces to a command response protocol, the computer science subsystem is responsible for ensuring proper functionality while in flight. All core components such as radio firmware, attitude determination and control algorithms, power management systems, and many more need to function and communicate with each other in real-time. The software team is responsible for ensuring these entities are rock solid stable and can work seamlessly across multiple threads.
Electrical
Power of the CubeSat
Members of the electrical team design and implement all electrical components, from high-level system maps to low-level circuit design. The electrical team is in charge of the PCB design, component testing, the power budget, and estimating power draw of parts of the satellite. Our electrical team works with components like our imaging hardware, solar cells and panels, as well as our communication antennas.
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Structures
Integrity of CubeSat
Structures is the subsystem responsible for the bulk of the mission’s mechanical engineering. Our primary duty is the mechanical design, analysis, testing, and prototyping of the satellite’s chassis, and this includes everything from selecting space-appropriate materials to working with CAM and CNC milling chassis components. Our team is also responsible for the thermal analysis of our satellite, ensuring that satellite electronics can withstand the heat loads experienced while in orbit, and integrating proper thermal control systems.
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Structures Team
High Altitude Balloon
Testing the CubeSat
The HAB team (High Altitude Balloon) are in charge of creating high-altitude balloons usually filled with helium or hydrogen and rarely methane, that are released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between 18 and 37 km (11 and 23 mi; 59,000 and 121,000 ft) above sea level. Their primary objective is to gather data of space, making multiple analyses, and making a conclusion based on that analyses.
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High Altitude Balloon
CubeSat Name Reveal
Cory George, 2019-2020 Project Manager
Agenda
Counting the days...
Spring '21
Initial Testing & Analysis
Fall '21
Manufacture Hardware
Winter '21
Final Integration & Testing
Spring '22
Delivery to NASA
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GOAL
SUBSYSTEMS
MEMBERS
Our Goal.
Our goal is to build a cost efficient CubeSAT from scratch using new technologies. The CubeSAT would be settled in low earth orbit in which it’ll gather information and pictures of our beloved planet-Earth. This information would be provided to the public for research purposes. We believe that information and pictures would be valuable in studying low earth orbit.
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