Request CubeSats

[jroly]

Hi I was wondering if anyone is interested in doing CubeSats.

There are lots of them out there, the standard sizes generally are 1U, 1.5U, 2U, 3U and a few other sizes as well but not sure if they are within cube spec range.

Nanoracks offer deployment solutions, they have a cubesat deployer on the ISS, I think they also have deployers on rocket launches too, basically just a container for CubeSats with a spring in the end.

Would it not be interesting to create a cubesat deployer and various cubesats for it?

Also CubeSats can be fitted with propulsion, magnotorquers, deploying solar arrays etc, I think it would be pretty cool.

Those images are from Flock-1 built by a company called 'Planet' who are deploying a lot of them for Earth imaging.

I think it would interesting if Orbiter has CubeSats & CubeSat deployers in it.

 

[Urwumpe]

Should be no problem, as long as somebody provides the meshes for them.

Since cubesats use a very standardized configuration, it would even be possible to create a generic DLL that simplifies many parameters of spacecraft3.dll, so that it is simpler to create new versions of a cubesat without needing to start from zero.

 

[gattispilot]

Wouldn't it basically be a vessel with solar arrays and a tube in the center. And then it would be deployed.

That wouldn't be hard to build. Not sure what function though

 

[Urwumpe]

That wouldn't be hard to build. Not sure what function though

In this case, they just seem to be a camera with 3 axis stabilization by reaction wheels.

 

[gattispilot]

Those look like long Cubesats
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat[/ame]

 

[jroly]

Yeah I know, that is the thing, they do not do much other than act as a standard satellite, but there are some that have special capabilities. They are popular too. Also there have been launches that have deployed around 30 CubeSats at once although I believe as secondary payloads.

On 26 July 2006, 14 CubeSats from 11 universities and a private company were launched aboard a Dnepr rocket, the largest planned deployment of CubeSats to date.[5] The rocket failed and was destroyed during launch, obliterating the CubeSats and four other satellites aboard.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat"]CubeSat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
They have also seen their fair share of destruction as well.

They are a growing part of the LEO environment.

http://www.cubesatshop.com/ has a lot of interesting modules for CubeSats.

If you look at the nanosatellite market which CubeSats make the majority of they have been growing.

http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uplo...osatellite_Market_Assessment_January_2014.pdf

From 2012 from to 2013 the number of nanosatellites launched increased by 330%

So I mean I was surprised there were no CubeSats in orbiter.

Anyway Planet have some good pictures of the Earth which they have taken with their CubeSats. https://www.planet.com/gallery/

It is interesting their philosophy, they were asked when their Flock-1 satellites launched from the ISS into LEO the Flock-1 would decay in orbit and fall back to Earth in a few years, why they did not attach any propulsion to keep their orbits, their response was they were continuing making the CubeSats better and after a few years anyway the technology is obsolete.

I thought that makes good sense.

---------- Post added at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:28 PM ----------

In this case, they just seem to be a camera with 3 axis stabilization by reaction wheels.

My understanding, imaging CubeSats use a magnetorquer which interacts with the Earth's magnetic field to provide attitude control.

 

[Urwumpe]

Those look like long Cubesats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat

Yes, thats the 3U+ Design.

http://www.cubesat.org/images/developers/cds_rev13_final.pdf

As you can see, the design is pretty standardized, you could pretty much go Kerbal Space Program on them.

 

[Donamy]

The JEM module in the ISS AtoZ addon, already has a working airlock and JEMRM to deploy the CubeSat cannon.

 

[jroly]

Urwumpe, that is a good document to look at

 

[N_Molson]

Found another cool Cubesat render (ESA) :

That one seems to be made of an assembly of three "basic" cubes.

 

[Astro SG Wise]

Because I am such a beginner with coding, I thought my first Orbiter project would be making a Cubesat with this thruster, the CAT.

http://www.projectaether.org/main/space/technology.html

Just a fun way to add to the stuff. Anyone who wants to could take it on. This company originally made high altitude weather balloon projects, but it looks like they are trying to go into the commercial space industry.

 

[Longjap]

I don't want to necropost but I've build a 1U basic cubesat mesh to use. I'm going to use them on the EM1 mission.

View attachment Cubesat.zip

Edit: This revolver style cubesat deployment must become a reality.