UC Irvine

Abstract: University of California Irvine (UCI) CubeSat is a student engineering project team that aims to design, manufacture, and launch a 2U cube satellite (CubeSat), AntSat 01, to support UCI researchers in pushing the boundaries of spacecraft thermoregulation. AntSat 01’s mission is to be a platform to test two variable emissivity devices (VED) in low earth orbit, and to establish a CubeSat system architecture for future space-based research at UCI. This involves developing a standardized, modular, and scalable architectural design that can be reused as a foundation for a wide range of scientific, educational, and commercial projects. This architecture will provide a blueprint for designing and building CubeSats, thereby facilitating the development of space technology and fostering space-technology innovation at UCI. The development effort is separated into Avionics, Communications, Developer Operations, Payloads, Power, Ground Station Communications, Structures, and Systems Engineering subsystems. Each subsystem has a team of UCI students, who are progressing towards developing flight hardware, software, and integration methods using a combination of specially designed algorithms, microcontrollers, analysis, and data visualization tools. Current progress includes creating preliminary designs for the onboard battery array, power distribution, solar panel deployment, antenna deployment, printed circuit board (PCB) systems, and an online dashboard for ground-to-satellite communication that enables real-time monitoring and control of the satellite. Future work for UCI CubeSat includes manufacturing flight hardware, integrating subsystems, and conducting pre-flight testing before launching AntSat 01 into space.