As Space Voyaging, we are dedicated to covering and reporting important news and updates in the aerospace sector, from large and small private companies to major national agencies. The expansion of the industry increasingly requires a greater number of highly qualified personnel and thus hands-on activities are crucial in preparing future engineers. In this context, university student group projects are fundamental.
That’s why we believe it’s important to share the objectives and challenges of some of these ambitious projects. The Alba CubeSat group at the University of Padua, founded in 2019, is designing and building the first CubeSat of this historic Italian university.
The CubeSat
AlbaSat is developed under ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! (FYS) – Design Booster program, which aims to help university students from across Europe design and launch CubeSats or PocketCubes for educational purposes.
The satellite is a 2U CubeSat measuring 10x10x20 cm, and the mission has several ambitious objectives.
Thanks to a sensor integrated on one side of the spacecraft, the satellite will collect measurements of the impacts with tiny pieces of debris present in low Earth orbit. Even small debris, invisible from the ground, will be registered. The Impact Sensor consists of two boards. The outermost board is made of a layer of Kapton, on which hundreds of conductive copper lines are printed. These lines are connected to a controller that detects which lines are interrupted in the event of an impact.
For the first time, micro-vibrations with small amplitude and high frequency will be measured within a CubeSat. Thus, the sensor will gather valuable data on their effect on missions and satellite components. Additionally, a Corner Cube Retroreflector will be used to accurately determine the satellite’s position through laser ranging. Lastly, Alba CubeSat will carry out an innovative experiment aimed at developing new systems for quantum communication.
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Background and beginnings
The project was conceived and launched in July 2019 by Federico Basana, an aerospace engineering student who still is the project manager. After the publication of the ESA’s call for Fly Your Satellite! Design Booster, Professor Alessandro Francesconi agreed to become the advisor for the ambitious project. Then, an initial group of thirty people worked in the first few months to decide on the mission’s objectives and set the course to follow. To do so, they took into account the university’s key areas of interest.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was the first major obstacle that the newly formed team had to face. As reported by Federico Basana to Space Voyaging, the situation was a tough test for the group’s cohesion and the progress of the project in its very early stages.
Initially, the mission included only the first three payloads. In 2021, the Quantum Future group from the Department of Information Engineering (DEI), specializing in quantum communication research, joined the project. Since the satellite was still in phase 0 of its design, it was possible to integrate the new payload without excessively compromising Alba CubeSat’s other requirements. However, integrating the experiment required a different distribution of components within the spacecraft structure, adding an additional challenge to the development process.
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ESA’s key support
These projects are vital for students to fill the gap between academic learning and practical application. They provide hands-on experience that enhances technical skills and problem-solving abilities, crucial for careers in aerospace and beyond. In fact, for the Alba CubeSat team, the support from experts provided by the European Space Agency has been vital.
Six team members participated in a 10-day ESA training week where various groups were prepared for the process of developing a CubeSat, producing a comprehensive feasibility study for a potential mission.
As Federico Basana explained: “Up to this point, we relied on technical literature and the experience of others. This experience was crucial, a turning point for the project. We returned with new knowledge and skills essential for designing the mission.”
In this way, they were able to present a much more mature and comprehensive project to the ESA call.
After being selected for the first time to participate in Fly Your Satellite! Design Booster, in 2022 a team representative attended a workshop at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. During this workshop, Agency’s experts elaborated on the specific challenges for each subsystem of the mission in greater detail.
After submitting the second and final proposal, Alba was finally selected with 5 other teams across Europe, achieving a significant initial milestone.
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The development phase
In 2023, the team began the mission development phase with the payloads at a low technical maturity level. Over the past year, significant progress was made, including various tests, to advance the instruments to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4 out of 9, along with several design improvements. Additionally, following the advice of agency experts, the team began developing their own ground station.
Earlier this year, the Impact Sensor was brought to the CubeSat Support Facility at ESA’s European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC) in Belgium for a series of tests. This crucial process required a significant acceleration in the development of the component, aiming to bring it to a TRL level of 6 within a few months.
An essential step in certifying the payload was the functionality certification of the sensor, which required an impact test. The inability to use the hypervelocity impact test stand at the university presented a significant unforeseen obstacle. Thus, the team opted to test the sensor’s ability to detect a collision at a shooting range. Future tests will be conducted to evaluate the device under hypervelocity impact conditions.
At ESEC, the component also underwent various vibration tests using the Electrodynamic Shaker system. Subsequently, the sensor was subjected to four thermal cycles over two days inside the laboratory’s Thermal Vacuum Chamber.
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Next phases
The team has now begun purchasing various components for the actual production of the CubeSat. The next major objective is to test the FlatSat—a disassembled version of the satellite—at ESA to simultaneously qualify the internal computers. Following this, a testing campaign for all payloads will be conducted at ESEC, aiming to reach TRL 6 by mid-2025.
In collaboration with the amateur radio association (ARI) of Padua, the ground station is being developed. It will then be placed at the Department of Engineering’s headquarters to establish communication with the satellite in orbit.
Based on the initiative of the European Space Agency, selected teams should have their launch opportunity funded by the agency between 2027 and 2028.
There are important steps yet to be taken, but the remarkable effort of a recently formed team under unique circumstances stands out. Many students have already contributed, and many more will actively participate in the project until the final goal of launch.
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