27/10/2021
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In brief
The EIRSAT-1 team, participating in the second round of ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! Programme, has successfully concluded the environmental test campaign on their Engineering Qualification Model (EQM).
In-depth
This milestone ran from 13 September to 15 October 2021 at the CubeSat Support Facility in ESEC-Galaxia (Belgium), and was a vital step on the road to deployment in space.
EIRSAT-1 is a 2-unit CubeSat from University College Dublin. It houses three experiments:
- A Gamma-Ray detector (GMOD) to study the most luminous explosions in the Universe, which occur when a massive star dies, or when two stars collide;
- A thermal coating experiment to study the performance of novel surface treatments (EMOD);
- An attitude control algorithm experiment (wave-based control / WBC) to determine its potential as a viable alternative to standard Attitude Determination and Control methods.
EIRSAT-1’s EQM qualification campaign saw the CubeSat exposed to conditions representing space. For example, an electrodynamic shaker system mimicked the extreme vibrations along three axes that the satellite will experience during launch. Meanwhile, EIRSAT-1’s Flight Model communications subsystem (CMC) and Antenna Deployment Module (ADM) were sealed in a thermal vacuum environment and then repeatedly heated and cooled to extreme levels. The EQM was then installed and tested in the thermal vacuum chamber over the course of several weeks.
The test chamber’s window was closed during these tests, meaning that the students were not able to see their spacecraft. Team members had to run functionality tests without direct visibility, checking that their satellite was in a good health. It was a great relief when the chamber was finally opened and the students could see with their own eyes that their CubeSat was still in one piece!
The campaign was very challenging, but the students showed great adaptability and professionalism. They impressed their ESA Education mentors by acquiring new skills and knowledge, strengthening the pillars of their future careers as engineers and scientists.
When back at their home university, the students will undertake further investigations to determine whether any additional design changes are necessary. They can then proceed to the assembly and integration of their Flight Model.
“Over five weeks working with ESA Education staff at the CubeSat Support Facility we had excellent opportunities to learn about how our system performs in a representative space environment,” explained EIRSAT-1’s student Test Engineer. “This test campaign, which was conducted after months of preparation, was very rewarding and has given us great confidence in the robustness of our satellite. We had amazing support from the Fly Your Satellite! team every step of the way. Personally, I had a fantastic time and learned so much about environmental testing. I’m really looking forward to applying that knowledge to the development of our flight model of the spacecraft.”
Keep up-to-date with Fly Your Satellite! developments here.