Qualification and validation test methodology of the open-source CubeSat FloripaSat-Ⅰ

摘要

The FloripaSat-I project consists of an initiative from the Federal University of Santa Catarina(UFSC),in Brazil,to train students to design,test and integrate innovative space systems.The group just developed its first open-source CubeSat,the FloripaSat-I,which aims to empower students to develop space systems through a practical approach,where they have full control of the design and test of a real spacecraft.The project has already gone through all the stages of a CubeSat mission prior to the launching and operation stages.A prototype of the satellite,as well the engineering models 1 and 2(EM-I and EM-II)were built.The expertise provided by the engineering models allows the development of a functional flight model(FM).This paper presents the validation and qualification tests that pass various FloripaSat-I models,from the engineering model to the flight model.All stages of the project are described,the tests performed in each phase,as well as the lessons learned.Thus,this paper serves as a guidance for other university teams that want to test their own CubeSats,as well as teams that want to use the open-source hardware and software left as heritage by this project.