Session
Technical Session V: University Student Scholarship Competition
Abstract
This paper describes a micro-satellite design and construction project. SPARTNIK, the capstone design project of the Aerospace Engineering undergraduate program was conceived with the industry ideal of "faster, cheaper, and better." With minimal funds and resources, SPARTNIK's main goal is to educate students for the real world, through the design and manufacturing of a working micro-satellite. A multidisciplinary team of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering undergraduate students was formed to confront this challenge. This project will help prepare engineering students to contribute to the emerging field of micro-satellite development. Classified as a secondary payload, SPARTNIK will conform to the size and weight limits for a wide range of launch vehicles. This design constraint maximizes the possibility of obtaining a donated launch. Baseline structural configuration of the micro-satellite will be 43 cm in diameter, 28 cm high and 30 kg mass to meet this constraint. The spacecraft will use the Earth's magnetic field for its primary attitude control. The available power from the solar array is limited to a few watts, since the only available area for solar arrays is on the surface of the spacecraft. SPARTNIK will carry a digital color camera, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a micro-meteorite impact detector as its experimental payloads. SPARTNIK will communicate through FCC licensed amateur radio frequency bands. This will not only enable the San Jose State ground station personnel to access the satellite but also other amateur radio operators. These types of projects have the ability to bring universities and industries closer together. By pursuing this type of project in collaboration with industry, universities would be able to serve as a test-bed where industry can develop and test new technology quickly and inexpensively. The benefit to industry would be the enhancement of their technology, as well as the education of the students that will be coming into the work force. An overview of the satellite is described in the paper, focusing on technical design challenges of each of the subsystems, also showing how the design team resolved these issues with research and industry mentors. The paper also addresses the educational challenges and benefits of hardware design and manufacturing as well as the benefits to the microsatellite industry. It discusses the value of careful preliminary research and of experienced industry volunteers to a student micro-satellite project.
SPARTNIK: Student Developed Micro Satellite, Benefits Education and Industry
This paper describes a micro-satellite design and construction project. SPARTNIK, the capstone design project of the Aerospace Engineering undergraduate program was conceived with the industry ideal of "faster, cheaper, and better." With minimal funds and resources, SPARTNIK's main goal is to educate students for the real world, through the design and manufacturing of a working micro-satellite. A multidisciplinary team of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering undergraduate students was formed to confront this challenge. This project will help prepare engineering students to contribute to the emerging field of micro-satellite development. Classified as a secondary payload, SPARTNIK will conform to the size and weight limits for a wide range of launch vehicles. This design constraint maximizes the possibility of obtaining a donated launch. Baseline structural configuration of the micro-satellite will be 43 cm in diameter, 28 cm high and 30 kg mass to meet this constraint. The spacecraft will use the Earth's magnetic field for its primary attitude control. The available power from the solar array is limited to a few watts, since the only available area for solar arrays is on the surface of the spacecraft. SPARTNIK will carry a digital color camera, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a micro-meteorite impact detector as its experimental payloads. SPARTNIK will communicate through FCC licensed amateur radio frequency bands. This will not only enable the San Jose State ground station personnel to access the satellite but also other amateur radio operators. These types of projects have the ability to bring universities and industries closer together. By pursuing this type of project in collaboration with industry, universities would be able to serve as a test-bed where industry can develop and test new technology quickly and inexpensively. The benefit to industry would be the enhancement of their technology, as well as the education of the students that will be coming into the work force. An overview of the satellite is described in the paper, focusing on technical design challenges of each of the subsystems, also showing how the design team resolved these issues with research and industry mentors. The paper also addresses the educational challenges and benefits of hardware design and manufacturing as well as the benefits to the microsatellite industry. It discusses the value of careful preliminary research and of experienced industry volunteers to a student micro-satellite project.
