Integrated CubeSAT Engineering Workshop

This tailorable course examines the application of Systems Engineering tools and techniques that will provide participants with the necessary skills, industry standards, information, and tools necessary to plan and implement a credible CubeSat Development Program. Emphasis is on practice over theory using a fully-functional (hardware and software) desktop (non-flight) CubeSat as the system of interest.

Using the 3U EssentialSAT (ESat) desktop satellite, the course follows the progression of a hypothetical CubeSat mission – NanoMet-2 –designed to deliver large scale meteorological imagery from LEO. NanoMet-2 serves as an end-to-end systems engineering and project management training platform to examine issues that develop during each phase of a project lifecycle.

The course is organised along the the lines of a real space mission, starting with Pre-Phase A concept development and then progressing from Phase A to D, introducing systems engineering artefacts that would be developed at each major milestone and providing hands-on examples using the NanoMet mission. NanoMet, based on the ESat platform, is designed to conform to the 3U CubeSat standard in terms of form and fit and includes all standard spacecraft bus functions (power, data handling, communication, and attitude determination and control). All hardware was designed to be for use around the world and is “ITAR-free,” (it is not space qualified or even qualifiable). Participants are provided with key lectures and resources including design tools and model-based systems engineering (MBSE). Through a variety of in-class exercises and hands-on activities they will learn by doing.

Course Topics:

• NanoMET-2 Case Study

• Conceptual CubeSat Mission Design Fundamentals

  • CubeSat Mission Essentials

  • Applied Space Systems Engineering

  • Planning for Launch/Space Environments

  • Launch System Services

• Introduction to Model-based Systems Engineering

  • NanoMET-2 MCR*

• CubeSat Mission Preliminary Design

  • System, Orbit Design

  • NanoMET-2 SRR and other Exercises

• CubeSat Mission Critical Design

  • Spacecraft Architecture Development

  • Subsystem Design

  • Fundamentals of Flight Software Engineering

  • Introduction to Electronic and Mechanical Design

  • NanoMET-2 PDR/CDR and other Exercises

• CubeSat AIT, Launch and Checkout

  • Space System Verification and Validation

  • NanoMET-2 SIR

  • NanoMET Assembly, Integration and Verification Exercise

• CubeSat Mission Operations

*Guided Hands-on Exercises

Price available on request