Aztech-Sat Feasibility Study

San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Aztech-Sat Feasibility Study
Dr. P. Papadopoulos, Professor
1.0 Aztech-Sat CUBESAT MISSION
The objective of this contract is the perform a feasibility study for the design of a CubeSat doubted "AztechSat." This project is a collaborative effort between San Jose State
University, San Jose, CA and the Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM). This initial
contract aims for Aztech-Sat to be the first AEM CubeSat project to be deployed from the
International Space Station. Two key experiments onboard the Aztech-Sat aim to
demonstrate alternative satellite communication methods and investigate new developing
material for the protection of spacecraft electronic internal components.
The Aztech-Sat Mission Objective is to
 Develop a flight ready CubeSat for deployment from the ISS.
 Demonstrate Globalstar’s Network as a method to advance communications in
CubeSat missions.
 Investigate the thermal conductivity of a nanostructured ceramic coating material
for shielding of CubeSat components.
2.0 Preliminary Design
2.1 Mission Success Criteria
A. Minimum Success
Delivery of a flight ready cubesat to the deployer provider.
Assessment: Successful acceptance of payload by deployer provider.
B. Nominal Success
Minimum success plus deployment from the International Space Station and
S/C operation in safe mode.
Assessment: Receive data packets via the HAM Radio Beacon.
C. Comprehensive Success
Nominal success plus data transfer by way of globalstar’s network.
Assessment: Receive data packets from the Globalstar SDVM.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
2.2 Mission Requirements
Mission requirement and their flow into system level and subsystem requirements are
tabulated below as follows:
Tables 1.a-f. Mission systems and sub-system requirements.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
2.3 Project Scheduled Milestones
Project was executed as planned below. The team met and exceeded SRR, PDR and
CDR planned reviews as scheduled below.
IMPORTANT: Project was halted due to NASA's postponement of the launch carrier to
the ISS. The flight opportunity has been deferred till 2015.
2.4 ITAR Compliance
The project was managed and followed NASA ITAR requirements. The ITAR
compliance metric is included below:
Tables 2. ITAR Compliance Metrics.
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
3 Project Management
The project was organized and managed as follow by the organizational chart below:
Luis
Luis E.
E. Casas
Casas
Edmundo
Edmundo Gomez
Gomez
1.0
1.0 MGT
MGT
Gabriel Alvarez
2.0 SYS
Gabriel Alvarez
3.0 SMA
Efrain Lopez
4.0 SCI
Roberto Villalobos
5.0 PAY
Carlos Mackan
3.1 DYN
Ricardo Amezquita
Luis Dominguez
MGT: Project Management
SYS: Systems Engineering
SMA: Safety & Mission Assurance
DYN: Orbital Dynamics
SCI: Science
PAY: Payload
SPA: Spacecraft
STR: Structures
EPS: Electronic Power System
CDH: Command & Data Handling
COM: Communications
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IPN: Instituto Politecnico Nacional
UABC: Universidad Autonoma de Baja California
Raul Trejo
Figure 1.0 Aztech-Sat organizational structure.
Dr. Papadopoulos
6.0 SPA
Cruz Peregrina
6.1 STR
Jose Martinez
6.2 EPS
Reyes Leal
6.3 CDH
Steven Navas
6.4 COM
Ricardo Amezquita
Ismael Gomez
Ish Sanchez
Roberto Villalobos
Nick Meglich
Jazmin Benites
Edmundo Gomez
Viviana Tacussis
Luis E. Casas
Ismael Casarrubias
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The Tasks and work-break-down structure (WBS) is listed as follows in figure 2.0.
AztechSat-1
AztechSat-1
1.0 Project
Managemet
6.0 Spacecraft
7.0 Mission
Operations
2.0 Systems
Engineering
6.1 Structures
8.0 Launch
Vehicle
3.0 Safety &
Mission Assurance
6.2 Electrical
Power System
9.0 Ground
Segment
4.0 Science
6.3 Command &
Data Handling
10.0 Systems
Integration & Testing
5.0 Payload
Globalstar
6.4 Communication
System
11.0 Education &
Public Outreach
Figure 2.0 Work break down structure.
The product break-down-structure is depicted in figure 2.0
AztechSat-1
AztechSat-1
Ground Segment
Space Segment
Integration &
Testing Facilities and
Launch Segment
Systems
Ames Amateur
Radio Club
Satellite Bus (Software
& Hardware)
Science Laboratory
Equipment
IPN Ground Station
Payload/Instruments
(Software &
Hardware)
Engineering Evaluation
Lab (Environmental
testing)
NanoRacks
CubeSat Deployer
Engineering
Integration Facility
Radiation Test
Facility
Figure 3.0 Product break down structure.
Dr. Papadopoulos
Launch Vehicle and
Pre-Launch Prep.
Facilities
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
4 System Description
4.1 Structure Sub -system
The overall Aztech-Sat main structure is depicted in Figure 4.0. The mass break-down
and mass properties are tabulated in table 3.0. The systems center of gravity is located X
= 16.37mm, Y – 1.56 mm and Z – 1.06 mm within 2cm of its geometric center as
depicted in figure 5.0.
Figure 4.0. Aztech-Sat main structural sub-system.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Table 3.0 Aztech-Sat mass properties.
Figure 5.0. Aztech-Sat center of gravity.
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The overall system assembly is depicted in figure 6.0 below.
Figure 6.0 Aztech-Sat system assembly.
The system break-down and its decomposition is show below in figure 7.
Figure 7.0 Aztech-Sat sub-system decomposition.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The location of the science experiment is highlighted in figure 8.0 and the antenna release
mechanism in figure 9.0.
.
Figure 8.0 Science experiment location.
Figure 9.0 Antenna release mechanism.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
4.2 Science Sub-system
One face of the Aztech-Sat will be instrumented with AltiN, a nano- structured ceramic
coating material in development for protection of aerospace components. Aluminum
titanium nitrides are a group of hard surface coatings with an Al content beyond 50% of
its total composition. The AltiN Shielding advantages include:
 Resistant to high temperature. Withstand elevated temperatures up to 800°C
(1450°F) in air.
 Resistant to abrasion and erosion environment exposure. Forms a thin surface
layer of Al2O3 that is hard, low in friction and oxidation resistant. As this layer
wears, it is constantly rebuilds itself with its own Al content.
 Enhances corrosion resistance without the need to encapsulate all projected
component in question.
 Cathodic Arch component application forms a uniform thickness that follows
the contour of the part’s surface, when applied to metals.
Thermistors are to monitor energy penetrating one face of the CubeSat as it orbits around
the earth. Thermistor resistance recordings will be down linked for further analysis.
Figure 10.0 Thermistor sensor.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The hardware description is comprised by an advanced design surface-mounted
thermistor sensor (SA1-TH Series) as depicted in figure 10.0. The sensor is available in
5 standard resistance values. Is a self-adhesive design that can be easily applied to flat
and curved surfaces. The sensor can be removed and re-applied. Its operating range is
from 80 to 120°C.
4.3 Payload Sub-system
Forty minutes after the Aztech-Sat deployment from the International Space Station, the
GSP-1720 module will commence its search for connectivity to the Globalstar
constellation. When Aztech-Sat is positioned over the coverage area and achieves a
successful connection, a network “handshake” will be initiate. After, the handshake
engagement, the module will attempt to transmit collected data packets via point to point
protocol. The module will transmit the data packets in the L band (i.e. 1610 – 1626.5
MHz) to the host satellite. Following, the GS host satellite will amplify the frequency to
S band (2483.5 – 2500 MHz) and down link the amplified data transmission to a
Globalstar Gateway back on the earth. Finally, the data packets will be re-directed to a
preconfigured fixed IP operated by the IPN university in Mexico. The con-ops are
depicted in figure 11.0
Figure 11.0 Aztech-Sat concept of operations.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The technical and hardware description of the payload is shown in figure 12.0.
Figure 12.0 Global-star payload description.
The payload wiring diagram is shown in figure 13.0.
Figure 13.0 Global-star wiring diagram.
The global-star constellation and network specifications are shown below in figure 14.0.
Figure 15.0 depicts the Global-Star constellation coverage.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Figure 14.0 Global-star constellation facts.
Figure 15.0 Global-star network coverage.
4.4 Communications Sub -system
Asides from the Global-star main payload, Aztech-sat is designed with a Sten-Sat
communications platform. The technical description of the Sten-Sat is tabulated in table
4.0 and hardware specifications in figure 16.0 below.
Table 4.0 Sten-Sat technical description.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Figure 16.0 STEN-sat communications sub-system.
The Stan-Sat antenna specifications are presented in figure 17.
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Figure 17.0 STEN-Sat antenna specifications.
4.5 Command and Data Handling Sub -system
The command and data handling unit was designed and provided by the Greek LambdaSat team. The sub-system specifications are outlined in figure 18.0 below.
Figure 18. Command and data handling hardware description.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The logical operational diagram of the OBC and its mission sequence operation is
depicted as follows in figure 19.0.
Figure 19. Mission sequence operation.
4.6 Power Sub-system
The power sub-system was also provided by the Greek Lambda-sat team. The electric
system break-down is shown below in figure 20.0 and includes a cannon battery, the solar
cells and the power board.
Figure 20. Power sub-system.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
The overall system performance and duty cycle is presented and summarized in table 5.0.
Table 5. System duty cycle.
5.0 Hazard Summary
The Aztech-Sat cubesat shall adhere to ICD requirements provided by NanoRacks
(Document: NR-SRD-029). Verification and adherence to the ISS safety requirements
methods include:
 Inspection: Visual or physical measurement
 Demonstration: Qualitative determination of compliance with
requirements during function test
 Analysis: Mathematical, computational, etc.
 Testing: Environmental testing of flight conditions
 Safety: Hazards report and safety data may not be necessary (pending
NanoRacks)
To minimize risks to the International Space Station the system was integrated from
proven flight heritage components that have been previously tested and flown and
permitted by the ISS safety panel committee for use. The components used are tabulate
below.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Table 6. Flight Heritage Components.
The rubric used for the risk management is presented in table 7.0 below. The rubric
reflects the standard NASA risk assessment rubric.
Table 7. Risk management rubric definition.
Risks to the International Space Station and the Launch vehicle are outlined in table 8.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
Table 8. Launch vehicle and International Space Station Risks.
The mission success risk is outlined further in table 9.0 below.
Table 9. Mission success risk rubric.
Dr. Papadopoulos
Topic: Aztech-Sat
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
6.0 Environmental Testing
The proposed environmental tests include, thermal vacuum cycling, battery thermal
discharge, static loading, sine sweep loading and random vibration test. The testing
parameters are listed in table 10 as follows.
Table 10. Testing conditions.
7.0 Current Project Status
The project time-line as originally propose is shown below in figure 20.
Figure 20. Aztech-Sat milestones.
Currently the project has successfully past the NASA SRR, PDR and CDR reviews. It
met and exceeded all expectations set forth. The project was halted from integration due
to re-scheduling of the launch opportunity and on-doc delivery. The next anticipated
launch opportunity presented to the team is in 2015.
Dr. Papadopoulos
San Jose State University
Topic: Aztech-Sat
One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 248-7173
8.0 Partners
This project was matterialized in partnership with government agencies, industry and
acedemia as tabulated below.
Table 11. Project partners and leads.
POC: Carlos Duarte & Blanca Rebollar
9.0 Cost Breakdown
Aztech-Sat Cost Break down
Design
Hardware
Main computer and Power boards
Environmental testing
Space Launch
Alternate
path
Space Launch
Ground operations
Dr. Papadopoulos
~$25K
~ $50K
~$20K (Donated)
$0
$0
~+- $100K
~$10K
Excluding labor
Includes system integration
Donated by the Greek L-Sat team - (PI: Dr. Papadopoulos)
Promised in kind support by NASA POC and NASA Committed funds
Promised in kind contribution by NASA POC - Did not materialize
Through NanoRacks depending on availability. A formal quotation
and flight availability has been requested and will be made
available as soon as received. Dr. Papadopoulos has explicitly
requested a slot and a related quote for the ORB3 flight to the ISS
currently scheduled for October 2014.
Labor cost to operate ground station in Mexico

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