TECHNICAL SUBTEAMS
ELECTRICAL
Our Electrical team is responsible for:
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designing, acquiring and assembling components of the satellite power system (solar panels, batteries, power distribution, etc.)
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design, assembly and testing of the onboard computer
As a member of the Electrical team, you may work on PCB design for the computer, solar panel design, writing low-level software, system integration and testing, or hands-on assembly of components.
STRUCTURAL
Our Structural team is responsible for:
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manufacturing and testing the CubeSat frame to qualify it for space
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satellite layout (sensors, solar panels, internal configuration, etc.)
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thermal design
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integration of components with frame
As a member of the Structural team, you will use tools like CAD and ANSYS and work with 3D printed models.
COMMUNICATIONS
Our Communications team is responsible for:
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designing and building our ground station
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acquiring and testing satellite components required for RF communications
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operating the satellite by sending commands and downlinking science data
As a member of the Communications team, you might assist with testing the ground station or the satellite equipment, or plan post-launch operations of the ground station.
ATTITUDE AND ORBIT DETERMINATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM (AODCS)
The AODCS team is responsible for:
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choosing hardware that will meet attitude control and knowledge requirements of the payload
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testing hardware and software algorithms
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aiding the integration of the AODCS hardware
As a member of the AODCS team, you might conduct simulations and physical tests to qualify components for space and provide assistance to the software team as they write drivers.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
The Systems Engineering team focuses on:
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balancing project management, stakeholders, and technical requirements
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ensuring all components of the spacecraft work together to accomplish mission objectives
As a member of the Systems Engineering team, you will collaborate with all teams to gain a holistic understanding of the project. You will monitor impacts between subsystems and support technical decisions. This team is also involved with high-level system design and system integration.
MISSION OPERATIONS
The Mission Operations team is responsible for:
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developing plans for post-deployment operations during the mission lifetime
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working with Systems Engineering to develop the Concept of Operations for the satellite
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obtaining licensing required for the satellite to launch
As a member of the Mission Ops team, you will learn how the payloads work and make decisions about how we will operate them when the satellite is in orbit.
PAYLOAD
For CTS-SAT-1, the Payload team is responsible for:
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integration of the Mini-Plasma Imager
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design and implementation of the deployment mechanism for the DCLB.
On future projects, the Payload team would have direct involvement in selecting and designing payloads for the satellite.