Brian Zufelt

Total Dose Test Results for CubeSat Electronics

CubeSats are increasingly important for space research. Their low orbits and short mission durations permit using electronics with modest radiation failure thresholds. Total ionizing dose irradiation results are presented for microelectronics interesting for CubeSat applications.

Trailblazer: Proof of Concept CubeSat Mission for SPA-1

The Space Plug-and-play Architecture (SPA) concept of rapid satellite development has progressed exponentially over the past several years. The team at the Configurable Space Microsystems Innovations and Applications Center (COSMIAC) in conjunction with the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory have trained over 500 individuals on this rapid bus architecture related to satellite development. This paper will outline the first CubeSat satellite proof of concept flight for a SPA only spacecraft. The Trailblazer mission is designed to fly a 1U CubeSat that is based entirely on a SPA bus implementation. Trailblazer will consist of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) parts converted to be SPA compliant. This allows not only a demonstration of the bus reliability in a space environment, but also the ease in converting existing components to be SPA compliant. With the dimensional constraints and power budget of Trailblazer, we have elected to use the SPA-1 standard. SPA-1 is the most recent addition to the AFRL SPA family. The SPA-1 data transfer protocol is based on 400 kbit/s I2C making it the lowest power, and lowest bandwidth option for SPA. Given the power constraints of typical satellite architecture, it is generally advantageous to interface devices/modules which do not require high data transfer rates to a SPA network via the SPA-1 Applique Sensor Interface Module (ASIM). This ASIM is logic that enables SPA Plug-and-Play for hardware components. It contains all the information needed for the system to automatically discover and automatically configure the hardware component. SPA-1 ASIMs can be any microcontroller that supports I2C and has enough memory to contain the needed logic. This allows the standard to remain open to a variety of dynamic implementations. The Trailblazer mission is being launched under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNA) program. This NASA program is designed to provide affordable access to space through collaborative efforts with academic institutions. The ELaNA program provides manifesting and launch of CubeSats for

Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Commercial Electronics for Cube Sats in Low Earth Orbits

30,000 per 1U module. The proposed orbit is 325 km with an inclination of 51 degrees for a launch in 2011.

The advent of the PnP Cube satellite

Modest total dose in low earth orbit and short cube sat missions provide an opportunity for using commercial electronics. We present the results of high and low dose rate testing of candidate commercial microcircuits.

Scintillation Observations and Response of the Ionoshere to Electrodynamics (SORTIE)

In terms of time and budget, integration is a significant time-consuming component of spacecraft development. While many useful COTS spacecraft components are available, interfacing and controlling these components in an integrated satellite system remains a complex engineering task. The Stanford/Cal Poly CubeSat and Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Dispenser (PPOD) standards have begun to standardize small satellite mechanical systems and revolutionize the way small satellites are deployed. NASA has recognized this as evident by their Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program which recently selected 17 CubeSats for the ELaNa-4 launch in 2012 (including one high school). To capitalize on this momentum, the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) has organized and supported a team of commercial and academic laboratories to develop and test an over-arching Space Plug-and-play Architecture (SPA) set of standards to support the rapid integration of independently developed satellite modular systems. SPA represents not only an electrical inter-connection and communication scheme, but a complete model for a self-organizing and self-configuring system to support the rapid assembly of mission-specific small satellites. Rather than forcing existing modules to be re-developed to a common messaging standard, SPA utilizes an XTEDS (eXtended Transducer Electronic Data Sheet) model. Each satellite module contains an electronic document describing its interface, capabilities, messages, data formats, etc. By reading a components XTEDS, other systems can quickly integrate and utilize a new module. While designed to initially take advantage of nanosatellites, everything developed can easily scale to larger spacecraft, UAVs or other aerospace and defense systems. This paper discusses our experience in developing the CubeSat Trailblazer, a 1U SPA-only spacecraft - launching in 2012 as a testbed for SPA technology. The mechanisms of self-organization for independent modules as a cooperating communications system are discussed. The simplifications associated with software development of a Command and Data Handler (CDH) is also presented.