DELTA-SAT: THE CONCURRENT PRE-PHASE A DESIGN OF A THERMOSPHERIC EXPLORATION MICROSATELLITE

摘要

The ‘Microsatellite Engineering' Master course at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the Delft University of Technology aims to bridge the gap between education and professional engineering practise by using a projectbased approach to space systems engineering education. The course comprised of a mission and microsatellite design project, using collaborative engineering methodologies to achieve the design of a thermospheric exploration microsatellite. This paper details design process and resulting technical design of this microsatellite, ‘DELTA-Sat'. The project work entailed the simultaneous conceptual design of the physical and functional architecture of a microsatellite. Emphasis was placed on payload requirements and engineering of the spacecraft bus functionalities, with design activities occurring within a rigorous systems engineering framework. Further work also addressed overall mission design to support the development and operations of DELTA-Sat. The technical result of the DELTA-Sat exercise was the preliminary stage (Phase 0/Pre-Phase A) design of a microsatellite and supporting mission architecture as a result of subsystem trade-offs. Subsystem designs were defined for payload, propulsion, attitude determination and control system (ADCS), structural, thermal, communication, electrical power system (EPS), and command and data handling system (CDHS) aspects of the spacecraft. Additionally, mass and power budgets, a launch segment, and a life cycle cost estimation were also defined. The resulting system makes innovative use of drag-free technology to undertake measurements in the lower thermosphere, while enjoying the advantages of reduced cost and development time offered by microsatellites. In conclusion, the DELTA-Sat project allowed students to gain valuable experience in systems engineering methodologies by designing a novel microsatellite mission. The resulting DELTA-Sat design benefits from increased sensitivity to subsystem interdependency and customer requirements, resulting from the collaborative nature of the design process.