Things are finally taking shape. The group meeting progressed smoothly in which the following responsibilities were distributed.

Jack had completed his report on CDHS and is in the process of finishing one on Programme Management. Alex, having completed reports on Payload sepcification and components will now work on integration of FM430 with the payload subsystem. Shahzad will research on magnetometers and carry out launch and vibrational analysis of the structure once Ben is done with the drawings of the structure prototype. Chris is in the process of finishing up his link budgets for the Comms subsystem whilst Mohsin came up with valuable data on the Power subsystem.

15th March

It has been concluded that GumStix is likely to be unsuitable for command and data handling on board. Although very cheap, GumStix components are not designed to minimise power comsumption and this may prove their downfall. There is also limited support available and other CubeSat developers have actively turned down GumStix as a C&DH solution. The alternative will likely be to use the FM430 Flight Module, for which there is plentiful technical support available and which consumes very little power, although is more expensive.

Final payload components have been chosen and the reccommendation has been made to set up a payload testing station at Roehampton Vale Campus.

Work has commenced on the deailed design of ADCS components and link budget estimations are complete, with component selection and design to begin in due course.

 

The KUbeSat team have been working through their designated projects this week, with some good head way being made. 

The communications system is near completion with only a few minor details which need to refined before an accurate link budget can be distributed to the team. 

The Ground station design is currently in the research stages and the reports stating the teams recommendations will be ready shortly. 

The Command and Data Handling is coming along well with new developments being made continuously, the technical report will be ready within the upcoming weeks. 

The power system has been researched thoroughly with the initial stage component recommendation due shortly. 

The payload specification and component selection near near completion and will be distributed within the next business week. 

The KUbeSat's structural research is underway with analysis into the vibrational parameters, of which, the satellite is expected to withstand. Testing equipment has also been investigated for the structural testing.

With only 9 weeks remaining of this educational year each of the sub-projects are expected to be finished within the next few weeks ready for the years final review and report. 

 

1st March 2009

A number of sources for potential funding were presented at the previous group meeting. These are extremely promising leads and the group hopes to capitalise on the opportunity. A number of KUbeSat Programme related items have been added to the 'wish list' for capital expediture within the faculty, including a clean room and ground station facilities.

It has also been suggested that a number of component testing stations be set up at Roehampton Vale campus, including:

• A payload testing station allowing experimentation with different camera settings and lens configurations.
  
• A command and data handling station which allows set up and programming of a Gumstix/Linux based motherboard

Preliminary quotes have been supplied for the above items, and detailed recommendations shall be made in the technical reports to be issued soon.

Work is soon to commence on the production of a prototype structure in the laboratories.