This course has been conceived to teach the students how to design a small satellite or Cubesat mission for Earth Observation. Students will learn which are the subsystems of these small satellites, their main characteristics and design constraints, and will practice how to design and plan a mission. Students will also learn about the recent and current history of Cubesat missions, the Earth observation sensors that can be boarded on these satellites and their limitations, and they will be able to understand how to use the data from these missions.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge about physics (electromagnetic waves), remote sensing sensors (passive and active sensors) and data (digital numbers, processing levels).
Teaching Methods
Lectures and practical sessions using open access software.
Assessment Methods
The students will be asked to discuss a case study and provide a report that will be evaluated.
Texts
The slides used by the teacher will be provided, together with a list of relevant books and literature papers.
Contents
After an introductory lecture, the course will contain a series of lectures on: 1. Orbits 2. Space Environment and Thermal Control 3. On Board Data Handling System (OBDH) 4. Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) 5. Electrical Power Supply System (EPS) 6. Communications System (COMS) and Telemetry, Tracking and Control System (TTC) 7. Product assurance and reliability and electromagnetic compatibility. Corresponding practical sessions will be also provided: P1. Orbital analysis P2. Power budget analysis P3. Link budget analysis P4. Data budget calculations P5. Data downlink capacity P6. Simplified mechanical analysis P7. Simplified thermal analysis P8. Simplified Attitude Determination and Control Systems.
