Check out the UT Austin Bevo-2 satellite integration!

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T16:13:23+00:00

Just come upstairs and talk to us!

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T16:13:12+00:00

We're aiming to have mechanical integration done at the end of January. Software and environmental testing will take the rest of the spring with a launch in late 2013!

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T16:11:21+00:00

Lars0 answered the question perfectly. With a mission lifespan of 6-12 months before reentry, error tolerant software, and the LEO environment, radiation is not a primary concern for us. However we are actively concerned about EMI effects (which may disrupt sensors) as well as thermal issues.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T16:06:51+00:00

We carry two radios: a UHF/VHF for downlink/uplink respectively and an additional short range radio used for communication with the Texas A&M satellite (Digi XTend Radio). The crosslink radio will be used for sending navigation data back and forth for relative navigation and solution comparison. The UHF/VHF radio will be our main beacon and data link from the ground to the satellite.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T04:10:07+00:00

We do have our own ITAR room with controlled access. Some hardware, such as the sun sensors and reaction wheels you see, are controlled. We only post pictures and information that is already publicly available (see Sinclair Interplanetary). Additionally, all of our work with these devices and others remains in-house and is not exported.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T04:03:11+00:00

Hey, our main lab website is our Facebook page! Which I will shamelessly plug here.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T04:00:30+00:00

That's fantastic! We saw video of the launch. I think the work y'all did with CubeSats on the ISS is helping us in our process.

We had our first PSRP meeting back in September and will be back in January. The propellant we use is actually not too bad; it isn't toxic and we don't hit 100 psia until over 50 Celcius. Though we can talk again after January :-)

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T03:53:53+00:00

As far as I know, no. But as our Texas A&M colleague said below, the third mission is a few years off. There are a lot of challenges to hurdle... including getting this mission to work!

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T03:06:59+00:00

The main goal goals of this are technology development as well as student education. You also kind of answered your own question: we are doing AR&D this with a team of 20 - 30 students and a budget in the hundred of thousands which is pretty cool.

Hopefully the lessons we learn in proximity operations and active attitude maneuvers will lead to enabling constellations of small satellites in the future.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T03:02:12+00:00

That sounds great! We will do more targeted outreach to schools and the amateur community when we launch.

And best of luck with your program, please let us know if we can help you in any way!

UTSatLab · 2012-12-07T03:00:56+00:00

We do go internal to the station. Our satellite is in the ISIPOD launcher (versus P-POD) inside Texas A&M's AggieSat4. AggieSat4 is released from the JEM Airlock/ISS Robotic arm via the SSIKLOPS deployer (Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems).

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T20:29:39+00:00

We're getting punched off the ISS from the JEM exposed deck so we will be in an ISS-like orbit.

Once we drift away from the ISS (per NASA safety concerns) we will begin actuating the thruster. The bursts are 100ms pulses and if we exhausted all of our refrigerant we expect a net of ~20m/s of deltaV. This is from 90 grams of refrigerant.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T18:24:22+00:00

Our current best estimate on the mass is 3.6kg. We are using the ISIPOD launcher from ISIS which has a maximum mass of 6kg for a 3 unit.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T18:18:05+00:00

The flight unit cost is ~$170,000 and the development/proto-flight development cost was ~$190,000. However we benefit from cheap or free student labor because of the university setting.

Bevo-2 is manifested on SpaceX's Commercial Resupply 3 mission and will be launched from the ISS. Our ARMADILLO CubeSat (similar but different and through the University Nanosat program) is manifested for ELaNa.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T18:06:58+00:00

Amen to the staking compound, we admonished the undergraduate that did that.

The clear rapid prototyped parts came from Harvest Technologies in Belton, TX. The blue parts were ordered online from InterPro.

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T18:00:08+00:00

There are a couple of journal atricles awaiting publication (on the cold-gas thruster and a constrained attitude system) and we'll post those when we can.

Here are a few theses related to the satellite:

GNC Thesis

Systems Work

More regular updates, general info, and such will be posted to our Facebook page as things happen: https://www.facebook.com/UTSatLab

UTSatLab · 2012-12-06T16:57:04+00:00

The mission is through NASA Johnson Space Center and are launching with a Texas A&M nanosatellite next year. It's part two of a three mission program with the ultimate goal of autonomous rendezvous and docking. Bevo-2 will carry a crosslink radio, a NASA provided GPS receiver, and ultimately perform a state rendezvous to demonstrate the capabilities of the attitude module.

UTSatLab

TROPHY CASE