CUBESAT MISSIONS – RELOADED

Without a doubt, CubeSats have had already a
significant impact on the way we conduct space
exploration and will even increase this influence on
space mission in the near future. However, their size
limits their mobility and therefore their usefulness.
To provide a significant level of mobility to
CubeSats, a conceptual design of a CubeSat
booster stage was conducted. A size of 18U was
selected for the booster stage, with a maximum
payload size of 6U. The booster and the payload
CubeSat would therefore fit into a 27U dispenser.
Mass and volume estimation were based on the
state-of-the-art CubeSat technology. Based on the
comparison study of different propellant and feed
system, a nitrous oxide (N2O) – propene (C3H6)
bipropellant pressure regulated propulsion system
was selected and a concept was developed. The
booster stage uses 4 thrusters mounted on the
bottom surface opposite to the payload acting also
as attitude control thrusters. The concept was
studied in a Simulink tool, developed to simulate the
orbital motion, orbital maneuvering, attitude control
and thruster operation of the booster stage. An
optimization of the design was shown, and error
analysis was made. A demo mission to the moon
was simulated where the booster stage performs an
orbital insertion into Lunar orbit.