Visvesvaraya Technological University

Belgaum, Karnataka-590 018

A Project Report on

“SMALL SATELLITE DESIGN”

Internship Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of the degree of
Bachelor of Engineering
In
Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Submitted by
ABHISHEK NM
1CR18EE002

Under the Guidance of

Ms. Parvathi Thampi
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
CMR Institute of Technology

CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru-560 037

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

2021-2022

i
 CMR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
AECS Layout, Bengaluru-560 037

Certificate
Certified that the Internship work entitled “Small Satellite Design” carried out by
Mr.ABHISHEK NM,1CR18EE002 is a bonafied student of CMR Institute of Technology,
Bengaluru, in partial fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical &
Electronics Engineering of the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, during the
year 2020-2021. It is certified that all corrections/suggestions indicated for Internal
Assessment have been incorporated in the Report deposited in the departmental library.
The internship report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in
respect of internship work prescribed for the said Degree.

Signature of the internal Guide Signature of the HOD Signature of the principal

----------------------------- -------------------------------- --------------------------------

Ms. Parvathi Thampi, Dr. K. Chitra Dr. Sanjay jain
Assistant Professor Professor & HOD Principal
EEE Department EEE Department CMRIT, Bengaluru
CMRIT, Bengaluru CMRIT, Bengaluru

External Viva

Name of the Examiners Signature & Date

1.

2.

ii
 CMR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOY
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
AECS Layout, Bengaluru-560 037

DECLARATION

I, Mr. ABHISHEK NM(1CR18EE002) hereby declare that the report entitled “Small Satellite
Design” has been carried out by me for the internship completed under NPHSAT for the duration
of 01month (9/08/21-8/09/21),under the guidance of Parvathi Thampi Assistant Professor,
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, in
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING in
ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING, of Visveswaraya Technological
University, Belagavi during the academic year 2021-22.The work done in this report is original and
it has not been submitted for any other degree in any university.

Place: Bangalore ABHISHEK NM

(1CR18EE002)
Date:

iii
 Acknowledgement

The satisfaction and euphoria that accompany the successful completion of any task
would be incomplete without the mention of people, who are responsible for the completion
of the project and who made it possible, because success is outcome of hard work and
perseverance, but stead fast of all is encouraging guidance. So with gratitude we
acknowledge all those whose guidance and encouragement served us to motivate towards
the success of the internship work.

We take great pleasure in expressing our sincere thanks to Dr. Sanjay Jain,
Principal, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru for providing an excellent academic
environment in the college and for his continuous motivation towards a dynamic career.
We would like to profoundly thank Dr. B Narasimha Murthy, Vice-principal of CMR
Institute of Technology and the whole Management for providing such a healthy
environment for the successful completion of the project work.

We would like to convey our sincere gratitude to Dr. K Chitra, Head of Electrical
and Electronics Engineering Department, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
for herin valuable guidance and encouragement and for providing good facilities to carry
out this project work.

We would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to Parvathi Thampi,

Assistant Professor, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, CMR Institute of
Technology, Bengaluru for his/her exemplary guidance, valuable suggestions, expert
advice and encouragement to pursue this internship work.

We are thankful to Mrs. Keerthana Gaali (Project Engineer ,NPHSAT) and all
other employees for helping us in all possible manners during the entire period.

Finally, we acknowledge the people who mean a lot to us, our parents,for their
inspiration, unconditional love, support, and faith for carrying out this work to the finishing
line.

Lastly, to the Almighty, for showering His Blessings and to many more, whom we
didn’t mention here.

iv
V
Title Page i
Certificate ii
Declaration iii
Acknowledgement iv
Completion certificate v
Contents vi
List of figures vii
List of tables viii

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION 1-4

1.1 : INTRODUCTION OF MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA 1

1.2 : INTRODUCTION TO CUBE SAT 2

1.3 : OBJECTIVES OF INTERNSHIP 3

1.4 : ABOUT COMPANY 4

1.5 NATURE AND WORK 4

CHAPTER 2 : OBJECTIVES 5

CHAPTER 3 : SCOPE OF PROJECT 6-17

3.1: RELATED WORK AND TASK PERFORMED 7

3.2: DESIGN OF MICROSTRIP RECTANGULAR ANTENNA 8

3.3: DIMENSIONS OF PROPOSED DESIGN 9

3.4: ABOUT SOFTWARE 10

3.5: SIMULATION 11

3.6: DESIGN OF CUBE SAT 15

CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION 18

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 19

REFERENCE 20
vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1: MICROSTRIP ANTENNA 1

FIGURE 2: CUBE SAT 2

FIGURE 3 : EDGE FEED. 7

FIGURE 4 : RETURN LOSS OF EDGE FEED 11

FIGURE 5 : VSWR 11

FIGURE 6 :GAIN 12

FIGURE 7: RECTANGULAR TYPE-1 ANTENNA 13

FIGURE 8 : BANDWIDTH AND REFLECTION COEFFICIENT 13

FIGURE 9 : RECTANGULAR TYPE-2 ANTENNA 14

FIGURE 10 :BANDWIDTH AND REFLECTION COEFFICIENT `14

FIGURE 11: CUBE SAT 17

FIGURE 12 :BANDWIDTH AND REFLECTION COEFFICIENT OF 18

DIFFERENT HEIGHT

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

9
TABLE 1 : : Edge feed technique

TABLE 2: Bandwidth and reflection coefficients at different height. 18

viii
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction of microstrip patch antenna

Antennas are unit key parts of any wireless communication system. They have the
characteristics of converting any type of signal into waves that can be transmitter
wirelessly for longer distance. The signal that is transmitted is received by a receiving
antenna. The data or the information is transmitted as electromagnetic waves. The
receiver antenna has a property of reciprocal process which converts this
electromagnetic waves into a signal or voltage that is given as input to the other end
of a system under communication. The main function of antenna is radiation
characteristics. Transmission line defines this. Transmission line which conducts
current with uniform velocity, and a straight line with infinite extent does not radiate
power.

Antenna of Micro-strip patch is the foremost type of printed antenna. It has a major role
in wireless communication systems. Fabrication can be easily done using micro strip
antenna. Ground plane, substrate an radiating patch are there in a structure of this
antenna. Patch dimensions defines radiating feature of antenna. Length and width
parameters are used for representing patch. Material used to make substrate is FR4
epoxy. These materials are durable for a long range of frequency. The frequency ranges
used to excite and analyze antenna is 5.2GHz.

Antenna design is done in ANSYS High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) tool. It
is a 3D simulation tool applicable for high frequency electronic elements as antennaand
antenna arrays. This software tool has worldwide application that can be used in wireless
communication, radar applications, satellite communication, Internet of things
products. It solves the problems in 3D EM design. Complete analysis and provides
guaranteed accuracy as result. The parameters necessary to analyse theantenna can be
viewed in 2D and 3D model for accurate analysis

FIG 1:MICROSTRIP ANTENNA

1
 1.2Introduction Of Cube Sat

A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of 10 cm

(3.9 in) cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than 2 kg (4.4 lb) per unit, and often
use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats
are put into orbit by deployers on the International Space Station, or launched as secondary
payloads on a launch vehicle.[3] As of August 2021, more than 1,600 CubeSats have been
launched.

Uses typically involve experiments that can be miniaturized or serve purposes such as Earth
observation or amateur radio. CubeSats are employed to demonstrate spacecraft technologies
intended for small satellites or that present questionable feasibility and are unlikely to justify
the cost of a larger satellite. Scientific experiments with unproven underlying theory may also
find themselves aboard CubeSats because their low cost can justify higher risks. Biological
research payloads have been flown on several missions, with more planned.[7] Several missions
to the Moon and beyond are planning to use CubeSats. The first CubeSats in deep space were
flown in the MarCO mission, where two CubeSats were launched towards Mars in May 2018
alongside the successful InSight mission.

Some CubeSats have become countries' first-ever satellites, being launched by universities,
state-owned, or private companies. The searchable Nanosatellite and CubeSat Database lists
over 3,200 CubeSats that have been and are planned to be launched since 1998.

FIG 2: CUBE SAT

2
1.3 Objectives of Internship

• The present situation plan is to create a simple geometrical shape structure of the
microstrip antenna, which would give decent broadband.

• The paper presents the design analysis of rectangular and square shaped
microstrip antenna.

• Both the antennas used microstrip line for feeding purpose.

• The square-shaped microstrip antenna is offering wider bandwidth as compared

to rectangular microstrip and sufficient return loss.

• The compact antenna is mean for its operation in X band of frequency.

• The proposed microstrip antenna is showing a wide bandwidth of 500 MHz with
a high return loss of -24 dB.

• This high bandwidth provides its usefulness in many wideband utilities in X-

band.

3
1.4About company

• NPHSAT SYSTEMS PVT LTD is first Aerospace startup in Andhra Pradesh,

INDIA.

• It is specializing in the design, development and production of small satellites,

mobile phone antennas, satellite antennas.

1.5 Contribution And Nature of Work

• Since I have done internship in online mode they have assigned a assignment
after completing one week of class.

• In that we should design a rectangular patch antenna for the given data

• After we should submit that to the assigned mentor.

• We designed CUBE SAT also in Auto Cad software.

• Overall it is very good experience for me.

4
 CHAPTER 2

OBJECTIVE

• The present situation plan is to create a simple geometrical shape structure of the
microstrip antenna, which would give decent broadband.

• The paper presents the design analysis of rectangular and square shaped
microstrip antenna.

• Both the antennas used microstrip line for feeding purpose.

• The square-shaped microstrip antenna is offering wider bandwidth as compared

to rectangular microstrip and sufficient return loss.

• The compact antenna is mean for its operation in X band of frequency.

• The proposed microstrip antenna is showing a wide bandwidth of 500 MHz with
a high return loss of -24 dB.

• This high bandwidth provides its usefulness in many wideband utilities in X-

band.

• To design a CUBESAT for wireless communication system using AUTO CAD

software.

5
 CHAPTER 3

SCOPE OF PROJECT

• The microstrip antenna required for wideband correspondence ought to be

lightweight, ease in fabrication and smaller in size.

• The present situation plan is to create a simple geometrical shaped structure of

the microstrip antenna, which would give decent broadband.

• The paper presents the design analysis of rectangular and square shaped microstrip
antenna. Both the antennas used microstrip line for feeding purpose.

• The square-shaped microstrip antenna is offering wider bandwidth as compared to

rectangular microstrip and sufficient return loss.

• The compact antenna is mean for its operation in X band of frequency. The
proposed microstrip antenna is showing a wide bandwidth of 500 MHz with a high
return loss of -24 dB.

• This high bandwidth provides its usefulness in many wideband utilities in X- band.

6
3.1 Related work and task performed

Feeding techniques
Feeding is the basic process for establishing connection between transmitter andreceiver
antenna and make them connected for transfer of information. As the antennaoperates
in radio frequency the feeding is created in same range. The communication between
the antenna happens through radio frequency signal.

Edge Feed Technique:

This feeding is provided through a feedline that connects the external edge feed on the
substrate with the radiating patch. The design is made such a way that width of feed
element is less than radiating patch.

FIG 3 : EDGE FEED.

7
 3.2 DESIGN OF MICROSTRIP RECTANGULAR ANTENNA

A Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna is designed to operate at 5.2 GHz frequency

with edge feeding technique. The proposed design is created with the substrate with FR4
epoxy under dielectric constant 𝜀𝑟 = 4.4. The length of radiating patch is 12.56 mm and
width is 17.56mm for edge feed.

The length, L, and width, W, of the antenna are found out by using the following equations.
Here, ℰ r is the dielectric constant.
The chosen substrate, wideband, is Duroid with ℰ r of 3, and the working frequency, f, is
taken to be 11 GHz.

The effective length is subjected to the correction factor, ΔL, and this correction factor is found
to be nearly 0.07.
The corresponding length, LG, and the width WG, of the substrate is in correspondence
with its height, h, and the dimension (length and width) of the antenna. These values are
found out from the given equations.
WG=W+6h LG =L + 6h Rectangular Antenna Design

8
3.3 DIMENSIONS OF PROPOSED DESIGN
Table 1: Edge feed technique

PARAMETERS EDGE FEED

Resonant Frequency(fr) 5.2GHz

Substrate FR4 epoxy

Dielectric constant 4.4

HeightofSubstrate 1.6mm

Width of Patch 17.56mm

LengthofPatch 12.56mm

Substrate Length 58.94mm

Substrate Width 35.9mm

Ground Plane Length 58.94mm

Ground Plane Width 35.9mm

9
3.4 ABOUT SOFTWARE:

CST Studio Suite:

• It is a high-performance 3D EM analysis software package for designing, analyzing

and optimizing electromagnetic (EM) components and systems.
• Electromagnetic field solvers for applications across the EM spectrum are contained
within a single user interface in CST Studio Suite.

How do you add materials to CST?

• Firstly, the new material screen should be opened and then "Dispersion" tab should be
selected.
• After that, the "User" and then "Dispersion list" button which is located in "Dielectric
dispersion" panel should be selected, respectively.
• Finally, the data file should be loaded by clicking "Load file" button.

10
3.5 SIMULATION

Edge feed:
a) Return Loss:
Power loss is represented by return loss. It is caused because of channel or transmission
line discontinuities. Signals are returned due to this in transmissionprocess.
Figure 4: Return loss for edge feed

b)VSWR:
VSWR is known as Voltage Standing Wave Ratio .This is analyzed to know about the
impedance matching of antenna.

Figure 5 :VSWR

11
a) GAIN:
This describes how much amount of power is radiated from the antenna. The maximum
radiation is obtained based in the frequency applied. If the value obtained is not
optimized then the performance of antenna is low.

Figure 6 :Gain

12
Fig 7: Rectangular type-1 Antenna

Fig 8 :Bandwidth and reflection coefficient R1

13
Fig 9 : : Rectangular type-2 Antenna

Fig 10 : Bandwidth and RF of R2 type antenna

14
3.6 DESIGN OF CUBE SAT

SOFTWARE UESD

AutoCAD was derived from a program that began in 1977, and then released in
1979 called Interact CAD, also referred to in early Autodesk documents as MicroCAD,
which was written prior to Autodesk's (then Marinchip Software Partners) formation by
Autodesk cofounder Michael Riddle.
The first version by Autodesk was demonstrated at the 1982 Comdex and released that
December. AutoCAD supported CP/M-80 computers. As Autodesk's flagship product, by
March 1986 AutoCAD had become the most ubiquitous CAD program worldwide.[11] The
2022 release marked the 36th major release of AutoCAD for Windows and the 12th
consecutive year of AutoCAD for Mac.
The native file format of AutoCAD is .dwg. This and, to a lesser extent, its interchange file
format DXF, have become de facto, if proprietary, standards for CAD data interoperability,
particularly for 2D drawing exchange.[12] AutoCAD has included support for .dwf, a format
developed and promoted by Autodesk, for publishing CAD data.
MATERIALS USED TO DESIGN CUBE SAT
The number of joined units classifies the size of CubeSats and according to the
CubeSat Design Specification are scalable along only one axis to fit the forms of 0.5U,
1U, 1.5U, 2U, or 3U.
All the standard sizes of CubeSat have been built and launched, and represent the
form factors for nearly all launched CubeSats as of 2015.[29] Materials used in the
structure must feature the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the deployer to
prevent jamming. Specifically, allowed materials are four aluminum
alloys: 7075, 6061, 5005, and 5052.
Aluminum used on the structure which contacts the P-POD must be anodized to
prevent cold welding, and other materials may be used for the structure if a waiver is
obtained.[18] Beyond cold welding, further consideration is put into material selection
as not all materials can be used in vacuums.
Structures often feature soft dampers at each end, typically made of rubber, to lessen
the effects of impacting other CubeSats in the P-POD.
The CubeSat specification accomplishes several high-level goals. The main reason
for miniaturizing satellites is to reduce the cost of deployment: they are often suitable
for launch in multiples, using the excess capacity of larger launch vehicles. The
CubeSat design specifically minimizes risk to the rest of the launch vehicle and
payloads. Encapsulation of the launcher–payload interface takes away the amount of

15
DESIGN:

Standard CubeSats are made up of 10 cm × 10 cm × 11.35 cm (3.94 in × 3.94 in

× 4.47 in) units designed to provide 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm (3.9 in × 3.9 in × 3.9 in)
or 1 l (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal) of useful volume, with each unit weighing no more
than 2 kg (4.4 lb The smallest standard size is 1U, consisting of a single unit, while
the most common form factor was the 3U, which consisted of over 40% of all
nanosatellites launched to date.[17][18] Larger form factors, such as the 6U and 12U,
are composed of 3Us stacked side by side.[ In 2014, two 6U Perseus-M CubeSats
were launched for maritime surveillance, the largest yet at the time. The Mars Cube
One (MarCO) mission in 2018 launched two 6U cubesats towards Mars.

Since nearly all CubeSats are 10 cm × 10 cm (3.9 in × 3.9 in) (regardless of length)
they can all be launched and deployed using a common deployment system called a
Poly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD), developed and built by Cal Poly.[24]
No electronics form factors or communications protocols are specified or required by
the CubeSat Design Specification, but COTS hardware has consistently utilized
certain features which many treat as standards in CubeSat electronics.
Most COTS and custom designed electronics fit the form of PC/104, which was not
designed for CubeSats but presents a 90 mm × 96 mm (3.5 in × 3.8 in) profile that
allows most of the spacecraft's volume to be occupied.
Technically, the PCI-104 form is the variant of PC/104 used[25] and the
actual pinout used does not reflect the pinout specified in the PCI-104 standard.

Stackthrough connectors on the boards allow for simple assembly and electrical
interfacing and most manufacturers of CubeSat electronics hardware hold to the
same signal arrangement, but some products do not, so care must be taken to
ensure consistent signal and power arrangements to prevent damage.

16
FIG 11
17
 CHAPTER 4
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The proposed antenna has been designed and simulation is done using HFSS software here
the designing aspects of two set of antenna structure is presented. One is rectangular shaped
and another is square shaped antenna.

In the view of above equations, microstrip antenna has been designed, and the width and length
of patch are evaluated as 11 mm and 9 mm respectively. The height of the substrate is
1.57 mm. For substrate plane, the length (Ls) and width (Ws) is taken out as 48 mm by 48 mm
respectively. Simulation has been done using HFSS tool.

In the first set of observation, the height of the substrate are varied from 1.17 mm to 2.47
mm. The corresponding reflection coefficient and bandwidth is tabulated in table 1.

Bandwidt Reflectio
Height h (MHz) n
(h)(mm coefficie
) nt (-dB)
1.17 350 18.5
1.37 360 22.5
1.57 460 25
1.77 430 38
2.47 510 15.5

FIG 12 Bandwidth and Reflection coefficient with different height.

Table 2 : Bandwidth and reflection coefficients at different height.

It has been observed that at height 1.17 mm, the bandwidth is 350 MHz with a reflection
coefficient of -18.5 dB. As the substrate’s height is going to increase from 1.17 mm to 1.57
mm, the simulated result shows that, at the 1.57 mm height of substrate, the antenna resonates
at 10.8 GHz of frequency and exhibiting a maximum bandwidth of 500 MHz and maximum
reflection coefficient of -25 dB. Furthermore, as the substrate’s height increase from 1.57 mm
to 1.77 mm, the antenna resonant 10.7 GHz. With substrate height of 1.77 mm, maximum
reflection coefficient of -38 dB is obtained, but the bandwidth reduces a little. A plot of
bandwidth and reflection coefficient with different substrate height of antenna .

18
 CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

• The proposed microstrip square shaped antenna with stub feedline show a good wider
bandwidth of 500 MHz. It also exhibits a high reflection coefficient of -24 dB with the
substrate height of 1.57 mm.

• This is validating in all the designed aspects of the different structure of the antenna.

• The broadening of the antenna is attained by the proper impedance matching by stub
feedline at the source point of the antenna.

• This good bandwidth and high return loss might be useful for many wireless
applications. The simple antenna would find considerable for good wide band wireless
application

• ANSYS HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator) is used for designing patch
antenna of micro-strip. Concept can also be developed using that. The edge feeding
technique is applied to the antenna that is designed. From the calculated results it
is clear that the antenna works accordingly for the marine environment
applications.

• As the outlook work can be extended to convert the designed antenna into
reconfigurable antenna and analyze the performance.

19
 REFERENCE

1. R. Garg, P. Bhartia, I. Bahl and A. Ittipiboon, “Microstrip Antenna Design Handbook”,

Artech House, 2001.

2. R. Mishra, “An Overview of Microstrip Antenna”, HCTL Open International Journal of

Technology Innovations and Research (IJTIR), vol.21, pp.2-4, August 2016.

3. Coulibaly, T. A. Denidni, and H. Boutayeb, “Broadband microstrip-fed dielectric resonator

antenna for X-band applications,” IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol.
7, pp. 341–345, 2008

4. Dong-Zo Kim, Wang-Ik Son, Won-Gyu Lim, Han-Lim Lee, and Jong- Won Yu,
"Integtated planar monopole antenna with microstrip resonators having band-notched
characteristics," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 58,pp. 2837-2842, 2010.

5. R. Mishra, J. Jayasinghe, R. G. Mishra, P. Kuchhal, “Design and Performance Analysis

of a Rectangular Microstrip Line Feed Ultra-Wide Band Antenna”, International Journal
of Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition, Vol.9, No.6, pp.419-
426, 2016.

20
NASA's CubeSat Lanch Initiative launched more than 46 CubeSats on its ELaNa missions over
the several years prior to 2016, and as of that time, 57 were manifested for flight over the next
several years.[110] No matter how inexpensive or versatile CubeSats may be, they must hitch
rides as secondary payloads on large rockets launching much larger spacecraft, at prices
starting around $100,000 as of 2015.[111] Since CubeSats are deployed by P-PODs and similar
deployment systems, they can be integrated and launched into virtually any launch vehicle.
However, some launch service providers refuse to launch CubeSats, whether on all launches
or only on specific launches, two examples as of 2015 were ILS and Sea Launch.[112]
SpaceX[113][114] and Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS)[115][116] are two recent
companies that offer commercial launch services for CubeSats as secondary payload, but a
launch backlog still exists. Additionally, India's ISRO has been commercially launching
foreign CubeSats since 2009 as secondary payloads. On 15 Feb 2017, ISRO set the world
record by launching 103 CubeSats on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle for various
foreign companies [117] ISC Kosmotras and Eurockot also offer launch services for
CubeSats.[118] SpaceX beat this record in 2021 with the Transporter-1 (spaceflight) carrying
143 spacecraft to orbit. Rocket Lab specializes in launching CubeSats on its Electron from
New Zealand.

Future and proposed launch systems[edit]

On 5 May 2015, NASA announced a program based at the Kennedy Space

Center dedicated to develop a new class of rockets designed specifically to launch
very small satellites: the NASA Venture Class Launch
Services (VCLS), [111][120][121] which will offer a payload mass of 30 kg to 60 kg for each
launcher. [120][122] Five months later, in October 2015, NASA awarded a total of
$17.1 million to three separate startup launch companies for one flight each:
$6.9 million to Rocket Lab (Electron rocket); $5.5 million to Firefly Space
Systems (Alpha rocket); and $4.7 million to Virgin Galactic (LauncherOne
rocket).[123] The payloads for the three flights under the VCLS contract have not yet
been assigned.[123] Other small satellite launch systems are under development that
would carry CubeSats alongside a small payload, including the Neptune series of
rockets by Interorbital Systems, Garvey Spacecraft's Nanosat Launch
Vehicle, [124] and the SPARK rocket. In addition to conventional launch vehicles and
launch facilitators like KSF Space, several air launch to orbit vehicles are in the works
by Swiss Space Systems, Generation Orbit Launch Services, and Boeing (in the form
of their Small Launch Vehicle).
Many of the aforementioned characteristics or properties of CubeSats such as
structure, propulsion, material, computing and telecommunications, power, and any
additional specific instruments or measurement devices pose challenges to the
expansion of use of CubeSat technology beyond Earth's orbit.

21
 Deployment[edit]

CSSWE next to its P-POD before integration and launch

P-PODs (Poly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployers) were designed with CubeSats to provide a

common platform for secondary payloads.[24] P-PODs are mounted to a launch vehicle and
carry CubeSats into orbit and deploy them once the proper signal is received from the launch
vehicle. The P-POD Mk III has capacity for three 1U CubeSats, or other 0.5U, 1U, 1.5U, 2U,
or 3U CubeSats combination up to a maximum volume of 3U.[128] Other CubeSat deployers
exist, with the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) on the International Space Station
being the most popular method of CubeSat deployment as of 2014.[3] Some CubeSat deployers
are created by companies, such as the ISIPOD (Innovative Solutions In Space BV) or SPL
(Astro und Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH), while some have been created by governments
or other non-profit institutions such as the X-POD (University of Toronto), T-POD (University
of Tokyo), or the J-SSOD (JAXA) on the International Space Station.[129] While the P-POD is
limited to launching a 3U CubeSat at most, the NRCSD can launch a 6U (10 cm × 10 cm
× 68.1 cm (3.9 in × 3.9 in × 26.8 in)) CubeSat and the ISIPOD can launch a different form of
6U CubeSat (10 cm × 22.63 cm × 34.05 cm (3.94 in × 8.91 in × 13.41 in)).
While nearly all CubeSats are deployed from a launch vehicle or the International Space
Station, some are deployed by the primary payloads themselves. For
example, FASTSAT deployed the NanoSail-D2, a 3U CubeSat. This was done again with
the Cygnus Mass Simulator as the primary payload launched on the maiden flight of
the Antares rocket, carrying and later deploying four CubeSats. For CubeSat applications
beyond Earth's orbit, the method of deploying the satellites from the primary payload will also
be adopted. Eleven CubeSats are planned to be launched on the Artemis 1, which would place
them in the vicinity of the Moon. InSight, a Mars lander, also brought CubeSats beyond Earth
orbit to use them as relay communications satellites. Known as MarCO A and B, they are the
first CubeSats sent beyond the Earth–Moon system.
Chasqui I saw a unique deployment process, when it was deployed by hand during a spacewalk
on the International Space Station in 2014.

22
Professors Jordi Puig-Suari of California Polytechnic State University and Bob
Twiggs of Stanford University proposed the CubeSat reference design in 1999[10][11]: 159 with
the aim of enabling graduate students to design, build, test and operate in space
a spacecraft with capabilities similar to that of the first spacecraft, Sputnik. The CubeSat, as
initially proposed, did not set out to become a standard; rather, it became a standard over time
by a process of emergence. The first CubeSats launched in June 2003 on a Russian Eurockot,
and approximately 75 CubeSats had entered orbit by 2012.[12]
The need for such a small-factor satellite became apparent in 1998 as a result of work done at
Stanford University's Space System Development Laboratory. At SSDL, students had been
working on the OPAL (Orbiting Picosatellite Automatic Launcher) microsatellite since 1995.
OPAL's mission to deploy daughter-ship "picosatellites" had resulted in the development of a
launcher system that was "hopelessly complicated" and could only be made to work "most of
the time". With the project's delays mounting, Twiggs sought DARPA funding that resulted in
the redesign of the launching mechanism into a simple pusher-plate concept with the satellites
held in place by a spring-loaded door.[11]: 151–157
Desiring to shorten the development cycle experienced on OPAL and inspired by the
picosatellites OPAL carried, Twiggs set out to find "how much could you reduce the size and
still have a practical satellite". The picosatellites on OPAL were 10.1 cm × 7.6 cm × 2.5 cm
(4 in × 3 in × 1 in), a size that was not conducive to covering all sides of the spacecraft with
solar cells. Inspired by a 4 in (10 cm) cubic plastic box used to display Beanie Babies in
stores,[7] Twiggs first settled on the larger ten-centimeter cube as a guideline for the new
CubeSat concept. A model of a launcher was developed for the new satellite using the same
pusher-plate concept that had been used in the modified OPAL launcher. Twiggs presented the
idea to Puig-Suari in the summer of 1999 and then at the Japan–U.S. Science, Technology and
Space Applications Program (JUSTSAP) conference in November 1999.[11]: 157–159
The term "CubeSat" was coined to denote nanosatellites that adhere to the standards described
in the CubeSat design specification. Cal Poly published the standard in an effort led by
aerospace engineering professor Jordi Puig-Suari.[13] Bob Twiggs, of the Department of
Aeronautics & Astronautics at Stanford University, and currently a member of the space
science faculty at Morehead State University in Kentucky, has contributed to the CubeSat
community.[14] His efforts have focused on CubeSats from educational institutions.[15] The
specification does not apply to other cube-like nanosatellites such as the NASA "MEPSI"
nanosatellite, which is slightly larger than a CubeSat. GeneSat-1 was NASA's first fully
automated, self-contained biological spaceflight experiment on a satellite of its size. It was also
the first U.S.-launched CubeSat. This work, led by John Hines at NASA Ames Research,
became the catalyst for the entire NASA CubeSat program.[16]

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