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In 2022, the NASA space mission DART deliberately collided a spacecraft into a moon (Dimorphos) to alter its orbit around an asteroid called Didymos I. Dimorphos was not a threat to humans on earth, but scientists wanted to test a technique that might be used in the future if an asteroid did pose such a threat. The mission was successful in that it did alter the moon’s orbit, but left many unanswered questions about what actually happened to the moon after impact. The HERA space mission launched in October 2024 and will perform a close-up crash scene investigation when it reaches the Didymos system. HERA carries 12 different instruments that will include cameras, lasers and small satellites that will be used to explore features of both Dimorphos and Didymos. Understanding what changes took place after the DART impact will help scientists develop a well understood repeatable technique that could be used to protect the earth in the future.

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Add your name to a new post and place it underneath this card to choose this mission.

Add your name to one team only, but feel free to explore what your fellow learners post about the other missions.

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AMSAT-UK FUNcube is an exciting communications space mission designed by amateur radio operators. Primarily it is an educational tool that aims to inspire and enthuse school children about space, physics, electronics and radio communications. The satellite sends telemetry data from space directly to the classrooms across the UK and Europe allowing pupils to analyse real space data, from orbital periods, external temperatures, velocities and solar energy. The design of the satellite is deliberately simple to ensure reliability and power efficiency.

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Add your name to a new post and place it underneath this card to choose this mission.

Add your name to one team only, but feel free to explore what your fellow learners post about the other missions.

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Add your name to a new post and place it underneath this card to choose this mission.

Add your name to one team only, but feel free to explore what your fellow learners post about the other missions.

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PhiSat 1 and 2 are earth observation space missions, which aim to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve the way satellites, collect, analyse and distribute data. It is important for scientists to work with high quality and useful data. AI can be used to downlink to earth the data scientists prioritise as the most useful. For example, many unfocused and distorted images (perhaps caused by cloud cover) are currently downlinked to earth - they do not contain high quality data and are of little scientific use. AI-enabled classification of objects/structures on earth have potential benefits for the space and economic sectors, as well as science and research. It is predicted that the PhiSat missions will transform our ability to protect the earth, respond to climate disasters and conduct maritime monitoring.

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Kseniya Papchenko

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Hello fellow team members! I have a busy week and am not sure when I will get the chance to look at this again before next week, so I've added some mission objectives and requirements that sprang to mind for starters. Please do edit the cards and add to / alter these!

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Reach and enter orbit around Dimorphos and Didymos. Orbit must include passing over crash site.

Gather data via sensors (eg cameras, lasers and small satellites).

Send that data back to Earth for analysis.

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Enough fuel to reach and enter required orbit.

Ability to determine position of crash site and manoeuvre over it. This may need to be autonomous due to distance from Earth.

Force and vibration protection sufficient for all the sensors on board to survive launch undamaged.

Enough physical space for all the sensors on board.

Enough power for all the sensors on board and to transmit the data gathered back to Earth.

Enough data storage for all the data gathered before it is transferred back to Earth.

Thermal controls suitable to ensure sensors remain within acceptable temperature range.

Communications system with sufficient power & gain to transfer the data back to Earth.

Attitude control sufficient to ensure sensors are pointing the correct way with required accuracy.

Enough fuel to perform any end-of-life manoeuvres, eg for disposal.

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Collect data from space

Taking images

Process data onboard

Demonstration of the algorithms

Downlink data

Security and authentication is important here with multiple processing steps - ensuring it is not tampered with

Ensuring the data is useful to the end user

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Hi all, looking forward to brainstorming with you! This course is my first in the realm of Space, so forgive me if my questions/comments seem beginner level.

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Sorry guys I have only started today due to my child being unwell. I will catch up today!

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The payload shall take images with X resolution

The space segment should downlink X mb of data per day

All uplink and downlinks shall be encrypted and authenticated

The payload shall have X watts available during onboard processing

The pointing accurancy of the platform shall be X (to allow for imaging)

The spacecraft shall be in X orbit at and altitude of X (dependent of where you are imaginh and camera and pointing capabilities)

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Hello, reading the JPL findings on Dimorphos & Didymos after the DART impact is incredible & it would be amazing to help design something that could validate the findings.

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Hi team 2

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Primary: To use AI to improve the quality of collected data via satellites, and sent to Earth for further analysis.

Secondary: Using AI to improve our selection process of collected space data, allows our scientists to produce useful analysis and research on data. Saving man hours and funding.

Downlinking efforts made more efficient as effective:ineffective image ratio is reduced.

Software caan be used in maritime monitoring, responses to climate disasters.

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Hello Everyone.

1: According to publically available information, HERA requires 712 Watts* of power when the spacecraft is orbiting Dimorphos, this will be provided by 2 x 5 meter long solar panels consisting of 1600 individual solar cells, covering an area of 14 square meters*. Once HERA is orbiting Dimorphos it will be roughly 2.4 Astronomical units (AU) from the sun & should receive roughly 17% of the sunlight that a satellite would receive in earths orbit & would produce approxiamately 800 Watts of avaliable power which covers the total requirements of the spacecraft & mission requirements.

2: The power supply solution for this mission will be provided by solar panels, as the trajectory of the mission will remain within Jupiters orbit, therefore solar panels can provide the necessary power albeit at a diminished rate, as the power of sunlight per square meter will reduce as the distance from the sun increases.

Trade offs: Solar panels are ideal in this instance as the spacecraft is remaining relatively local but considerations must be made for the deployment of the solar panels & the total amount of power that has the potential to produce.

(1400 x 14 = 19600 watts total power. / 100 = 196 watts x 17 = 3.332 watts available from sun light @ 2.4 AU) azurspace solar panels have an efficiency range of 28 - 32% at the current date & time which allow for a maximum power generation of just over 1KW (1066 watts) any additional power will need to be managed by the power control systems by either charging batteries, radiating it off as heat or adjusting the atitude control of the panels after the initial deployment to reduce power generation & provide over voltage protection (OVP) .The best trade off is the aviodance of the expense & legislative requirements of a nuclear power system. Win win…

3: Power management protocols: I’ll need to do some more research on this bit.

Hopefully, I’m along the right lines but I’m happy for any discussions. Cheers, James.

*Refs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hera_(space_mission)

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera

https://www.azurspace.com/index.php/en/products/products-space/space-solar-cells

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Mission Objectives

-      To make use of AI to improve the way satellites collect, analyse and distribute data, with the initial focus on pre-empting weather disasters so measures can be made to protect the earth.

-      To make use of AI to ensure that the data that is collected and downlinked to earth is of an excellent standard and of scientific merit.

-      To reduce the amount of unusable data is downlinked, which would reduce costs (energy, financial and labour) by omitting the stage where staff have to sift through unusable data of little to no scientific use – economic, science and R&D benefits.  The aim is to improve efficiency, efficacy and feasibility of data.

-      The technology aims to operate between the space environment and Earth.

Mission Spacecraft Requirements

The primary mission spacecraft requirements are:

-          The link budget must focus on ensuring that communication is reliable over a long distance and that loss parameters are calculated accurately and include a reasonable Margin, based around the size of satellite and Orbit chosen for the Earth Observation task.

-          An appropriate payload should be chosen to satisfy the requirements to both gather data and to transmit the data.  The bus should be compatible with the payload – for this mission Communications, particularly data storage and the up-down link antenna are a priority.

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I'm late to the party so I may as well join Team 3, hi!

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Educational Engagement: It provides a platform for schools and amateur radio operators to receive real-time telemetry and interpret data, helping students learn about satellite operations, radio communication, and space environments.

Amateur Radio Communications: FUNcube-1 supports the amateur radio community by providing a U/V linear transponder, which allows licensed amateur radio operators to conduct voice communications and digital data transmissions. This transponder operates in a way that permits communications even when the satellite is in eclipse, a unique feature in small educational CubeSats.

Welcome to the FUNcube Web Site

The SSETI Handbook (funcube.org.uk)

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Joining Team 3 as it seems pretty quiet here!

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Gather a variety of telemetry from different sensors at regular intervals, such that the data is interesting and useful to analyse, and varying in complexity to better accommodate use at different ages / educational levels

Transmit this telemetry continuously and reliably to schools and colleges in the UK and Europe

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A variety of reliable sensors for the continuous gathering of data, including: position (GPS), temperature, velocity, solar energy

Communication equipment that provides a stable connection to the ground with sufficient bandwidth to transmit the gathered telemetry

A GEO orbit that enables constant communication with Europe

A power system that can provide enough power to keep all sensors and communication devices running, plus batteries that can store and provide power during eclipse periods

Positioning control such as gyroscopic wheels to keep the satellite in the desired orbit, as well as providing mechanisms to de-orbit at end of life

While not technically part of the spacecraft itself, the ground equipment needed to receive a signal from the spacecraft should be considered as part of the design, because it is vital to the success of the educational outreach mission that is the purpose of this satellite!

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Despite this team being quite congested I find this mission the most interesting out of the 3, hopefully I can contribute something positive!

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LEO -

close to sun so solar panels appropriate.

roughly 90min orbits, so regular eclipse periods and regular charge/discharge of battery

not a long mission - probably 5yrs max, so this isnt too important

needs to be low cost as not a long mission

AI algorithms are processor heavy and so require a good amount of wattage

Imagers are also power heavy

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Improve EO quality and efficientcy:

Use onboard AI to filter and prioritise better data, so that transmission of ad images is reduced. This will reduce the downlink and transmission reqs of the satellite

Demonstarte and develop AI in Space:

Demonstrate ai capability to classify and assess EO data. Also use mission to optimise the usage of AI based on its strength and weaknesses

Support climate and environmental monitoring:

Provide data to assist in monitoring climate and environmental changes. Mission aims to overall improve EO data collection and protect the earth.

Advance ai for EO:

Show the economic and scientific potentential of AI in satellites, and promote further R&D into it

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REQ1-001 - data quality filtering

Must filter EO data to prioritise high quality and valuable data

Must detect and get rid of low quality data

REQ-002 - data classification

Must classify objects and structures based on pre-defined criteria

Classification is to support monitoring and assessment goals

REQ-003 - Prioritised data transmission

Must prioritise downlinknig of processed and valuable data to maximise bandwidth efficiency

Must be adaptable to differetn mission phases and objectives

REQ-004 - Energy management

Must have a power system campable of supporting the continuous full-operation of the spacecraft

Must ensure power availability during eclipse

REQ-005 - Comms bandwidth and latency

Must support high-bandwidth comms like to transmit images and data to Earth efficiently

Down latency must be minimised

REQ-006 - Attitude control

Must maintain an attitude suitable for EO to maximise image quality and rate

Must ensure accurate pointing for consistent image capture

Must be stable enough to capture clear imagery

REQ-007 - Conditional resilience

Must be able to operate within the expected (+margin) radiation levels and temp variations

Must be resilient to induced damage

REQ-008 - Reliability and redundancy

Must ensure high reliability to achieve continuois operation over planned duration

Critical systems must include redundancu in case of failures

REQ-009 - EOL

Must adhere to propel EOL disposal and minimise space debris

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Great ideas so far. Something else to consider is secondary objectives, which can be attempted after the primary mission is complete to extend the usefulness of the mission:

Is there any object of interest relatively close by that can be analysed using the same sensors?

What would the additional resource requirements be (extra propellant, higher initial power budget to account for more solar panel degredation of a longer mission)?

Because these obectives are not critical it might be possible to use up the safety margins of the original design, rather than modifying the spacecraft.

How can the spacecraft be decomissioned if it fails halfway through the secondary objective?

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Current and Voltage Control: Provide appropriate current and voltage for sub-systems to enusre they work properly and are not damaged.

Switch on/off sub-systems: To eliminate unecessary power draw and ensure demand is not higher than supply. Can also be used to extend mission duration by permanently shutting off non-critical systems (as was done with the Voyager spacecraft for example)

Battery Management System (BMS): Manage battery charge and discharge and ensure battery health and longevity.

Fault Management: To disconnect and isolate any broken components and ensure they do not damage any other parts.

I'm sure I missed some, happy to discuss!

Source: "Modular Power Standard for Space Explorations Missions", https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170001302/downloads/20170001302.pdf

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I'm rather late to this, but I did some systems work on a CubeSat for my final university research project so this should be fun! Team 3 unite!

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Hi team 1! As we can't edit each other's posts here, which makes it challenging to finalise consolidated lists, I've started a google doc here. I've tried to capture all the Week 1 info on mission objectives & requirements, including from comments, but I may have missed some so please do have a look and update as needed! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BfNRmkv63OrKIPPEE-AMN5rq0z_o6dXhiYGo28Y2x2w/edit?usp=sharing

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Hi All! I put my write up for the battery system in the shared Google Document. When you have a chance, let me know what you think. I would love some feedback!

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Requirements

Must have a power source to meet operational needs, including AI processing and imaging payload

Must provide sufficient energy during both daylight and eclipse periods

Must maintain sufficient margins to account for EOL degradation

Must sustain MR throughout operational lifecycle

Power System

Solar panels with battery storage

Advantages

Reliable and efficient in LEO with consistent sunlight (roughly 2/3rd of the time)

Tandem solar cells (30% efficiency) can meet high power demands and are also lightweight and cost effective

Proven technology and minimal complexity

Disadvantages

Rely on sunlight which is not all the time, thus requires batteries also

Batteries add mass and have limited charge-discharge cycles

Power Management Protocols

Operational Modes

Nominal - Full operation, AI, Imaging, comms, CPU, battery charging, all powered by solar panels

Eclipse - Critical systems, AI, Thermal, minimal comms, powered by batteries

Budgeting

Power to be allocated based on operational priorities

Margin to account for uncertainties and degradation over time (Microsoft Word - AD 5 Margin philosophy for science assessment studies 1.3)

EOL Planning

Account for solar panel degradation over time and reduced battery capacity

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Some power management protocols of the FUNcube include:

Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) - Optimises energy collection from the solar panels and adjusts the system's operational mode (educational, amateur radio, safe, receiver only) based on the available power. This ensures efficient energy conversion and battery charging.

EPS – If a failure develops in the rechargeability of the battery, the EPS is still able to provide power from the solar panels ensuring systems can still be powered, albeit in sunlight-only mode.

I think the microcontroller in the EPS would have the job of voltage regulation and battery protection? Unsure on this.

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Solar panels – Sustainable and effective but fully reliant on sunlight availability and CubeSat orientation to the Sun. Since the mission is to be deployed into LEO, there is no need for complex nuclear power as backup. A balance must be struck between maximising efficiency for optimal power and minimising mass/volume to reduce launch costs.

Battery (Li-ion) – Two-cell 7.6V battery with a capacity of 2600mAh, stores energy generated by solar panels, critical for proving power during periods of eclipse when solar panels are ineffective. Offers high-energy density but has limited life-cycle. Over time the rechargeability will degrade. If battery charge is low during eclipse the CubeSat will enter “safe mode” to reduce power demands until sunlight returns.

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Hi Team 3, coming in late to the party but better late than never.

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Power requirements

Since this spacecraft is very small, and its functions are only monitoring and comms, it won't require much power - I would estimate around 50-100W.

A constant supply of power is required to keep sensors running and telemetry transmitting back to the ground continuously.

Power supply solutions / trade-offs

Since this spacecraft will remain in Earth orbit, solar panels are sufficient for its needs and preferable to nuclear power. Solar panels are smaller, cheaper, lighter, and far less complex than nuclear power systems. The solar panels should be articulated to remain at an optimum angle to the Sun.

Since the spacecraft will be in eclipse conditions ~50% of the time, a battery is needed to store and provide power when the solar panels cannot. A battery should suffice (compared to fuel cells) because this is a relatively short-term and non-critical mission, so reliability and lifespan over multiple cycles is less of a consideration.

Power management protocols

When in direct sunlight, the spacecraft should draw power from its solar panels. It should operate all sensors, and send telemetry regularly to the ground, as well as performing required spacecraft maintenance operations such as attitude adjustments. It should use the remaining power to charge the batteries.

When in eclipse conditions, the spacecraft should do all of the above, but drawing power from the batteries instead of the solar panels.

When power is running low in eclipse conditions, the spacecraft should go into power-saving mode, in which only critical functions continue. This will conserve remaining power until the spacecraft is back in sunlight again.

Solar panel size calculations

Assuming:

70W power needed

Sun provides 1.4kW/m² in Earth orbit

Solar panels operate at 10% efficiency

Spacecraft spends 50% time in eclipse conditions

1400 x A x 0.1 x 0.5 = 70 -> A = 1

Therefore this spacecraft needs solar panels of at least 1m².

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Hi All! I figured it would be easier for any calculations being done if they were on a spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nmi1Nfq9dnWuckkvTDTn3VR2Rbf48aWRsaCdw6RW76c/edit?gid=0#gid=0

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Type of antenna

We should use a low-gain antenna (LGA) in order to have wider non-directional signal coverage over the surface of the earth. This also has the benefits of being a simpler and cheaper design.

Type of polarisation

We should use circular polarisation, to avoid the atmosphere's de-polarisation effects (Faraday rotation)

Other considerations

Will the signal be strong enough, on such a small cubesat?

What frequency should we use, considering interference and regulatory standards?

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Since the mission is one of outreach to schools and colleges, the ground equipment needed to receive and decode the signal from this satellite should be cheap, small and easy to use.

The receiving antenna itself for this mission takes the form of a small dongle that can be plugged into a computer via a USB port.

The software to decode and analyse this data is available open-source at github.com/funcube-dev/funcubeLib. This means that it is free for anyone to download and use, and the source code is also available for programmers to read and modify for their own education. This software also includes a graphical user interface (GUI) which provides a platform on which you can track and analyse the data receiced.

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My attempted at a visual representation of an electrical power systembased on the HERA mission.

Kind Regards,James.

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For this mission, orientation with respect to the Earth only needs to be maintained, and not to a high degree of precision. In addition, this mission requires the spacecraft to be as small and light as possible. Therefore we should use the Earth’s magnetic field for both attitude sensing and adjustments. A magnetometer can be used to determine rotation relative to the Earth, and magnetorquers can be used to adjust and maintain orientation relative to Earth over time. Both of these systems are small, light, and require minimal power from the solar panels.

If we want accurate positioning data to be included in the data transmission to Earth, we should include a GPS sensor, as this will provide extremely accurate positioning data.

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Launch Vehicle:

Launching a CubeSat into orbit requires careful budgeting to avoid overspending. I think this mission requires a bit of shopping around, as there is not necessarily a need for a dedicated launch vehicle.

For example, a rideshare option with SpaceX typically costs at least $300,000 USD — however, this is their flat rate for any payload under 50kg. It appears that Exolaunch offers a more affordable option, with pricing around $50,000 for a 10x10x10cm, 1 kg CubeSat.

The best option, and closest to home, is Alba Orbital. They organise rideshares and have sent up over 41 satellites with Rocketlabs and SpaceX since 2019. Alba Orbital is the most cost-effective, offering a pocket cube (half the volume of our satellite) for 25,000 euros, though a full 10x10x10 cm CubeSat costs 40k euro. Both Rocket Lab and SpaceX are used as launch providers, providing added mission assurance. I think Alba Orbital gets around SpaceX’s minimum payload fee by acting as the middleman, reserving slots for smaller satellites, and bundling them all together as one payload.

So, our launch vehicle would likely be the Electron or the Falcon 9.

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Define a pre-launch testing and verification protocol for your spacecraft (what are the main steps?)

What launch vehicle are you using?

What orbit /trajectory is the spacecraft going to? What in-orbit calibration is required?

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What attitude and control requirements does the mission have?

What solution is most appropriate and effective?

Combining power, communications and payload services, what size of spacecraft have you designed?

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What are communication requirements: on board and to ground?

What is the best type of on-board antenna?

What kind of ground station we need?

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What are power requirements?

What are power supply solutions / trade-offs?

What are power management protocols?

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Choose one of the three missions.

What are the mission objectives?

What are the mission spacecraft requirements?

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Define a pre-launch testing and verification protocol for your spacecraft (what are the main steps?)

What launch vehicle are you using?

What orbit /trajectory is the spacecraft going to? What in-orbit calibration is required?

# data[].attributes.body
What attitude and control requirements does the mission have?

What solution is most appropriate and effective?

Combining power, communications and payload services, what size of spacecraft have you designed?

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What are communication requirements: on board and to ground?

What is the best type of on-board antenna?

What kind of ground station we need?

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What are power requirements?

What are power supply solutions / trade-offs?

What are power management protocols?

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Choose a mission by adding your name to one of the 'Team Members' cards on this board.

What are the mission objectives?

What are the mission spacecraft requirements?

# data[].attributes.body
Define a pre-launch testing and verification protocol for your spacecraft (what are the main steps?)

What launch vehicle are you using?

What orbit /trajectory is the spacecraft going to? What in-orbit calibration is required?

# data[].attributes.body
What attitude and control requirements does the mission have?

What solution is most appropriate and effective?

Combining power, communications and payload services, what size of spacecraft have you designed?

# data[].attributes.body
What are communication requirements: on board and to ground?

What is the best type of on-board antenna?

What kind of ground station we need?

# data[].attributes.body
What are power requirements?

What are power supply solutions / trade-offs?

What are power management protocols?

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Choose one of the three missions.

What are the mission objectives?

What are the mission spacecraft requirements?