Overview

UPSat is a 2U Cubesat satellite constructed and delivered by Libre Space Foundation, started by University of Patras as part of the QB50 mission with ID GR-02.

Scope

UPSat mission aspires to be the first completely open source satellite ever launched, manufactured in Greece, minimizing the usage of COTS components to the absolute minimum. On that scope all subsystems of the satellite are designed from scratch in an open source software and hardware way.
The return of investment towards an open source development way, is expected to be significant, kickstarting a new knowledge and building ecosystem around space engineering and technologies.

History

  • October 2007. Having served as the YES2 Mechanical Design Center of Expertise, members of the team with the support from academic faculty began the new adventure of the design of a CubeSat.
  • November 2009. The UPatras team was invited to attend the QB50 Workshop in Brussels (organized by ESA, NASA and Von Karman Institute), a mission that will deploy 50 double CubeSats developed by teams from all around the globe.
  • 2009-2015 Under the framework of UPSat, a number of diploma theses were completed (e.g. structural design, SMA solar panel deployment mechanism, materials of UPSat, Attitude determination and control sequences) although unfortunately most of them could not be applied on the final satellite design.
  • September 2015. Libre Space Foundation is involved in consulting for the COMMS subsystem (project Diactoros).
  • November 2015. Coordination between University of Patras and Libre Space Foundation for ground station design and operations.
  • January 2016. Libre Space Foundation delivers a detailed readiness report outlining the missing parts of the project.
  • February 2016. UPSat becomes a collaborative and co-funded project of Libre Space Foundation and University of Patras, focusing on open source software and hardware as deliverables. As part of this collaboration LSF will be delivering:
    • Mission redesign to fit new targeted orbit
    • OBC subsystem (hardware and software)
    • COMMS subsystem (hardware redesign and software)
    • EPS subsystem (hardware review and software)
    • ADCS subsystem (hardware review and software)
    • SU integration software and testing
    • Antenna deployment system and testing
    • Ground station deployment, command and control software and testing
    • Complete integration, assembly
    • Testing and FRR reports (on HAI, UPatras and hackerspace.gr facilities)
    • General project management and delivery of the satellite
    • Operations once the satellite is deployed
  • March 2016. UPSat website goes live detailing the progress of the project.
  • April 2016. First Engineering Models of subsystems are constructed in Libre Space Foundation facilities. Mockups of the whole assembly are tested for integration preparations. Software development continues.
  • May 2016. Structural components are delivered by University of Patras and final integration commences.
  • June 2016. Final integration of all components and minor adjustments is successful in Libre Space Foundation facilities.
  • June-July 2016. Flight model of UPSat undergoes Vibrational testing campaign (in Hellenic Aerospace Industry), TVAC testing (in University of Patras), EMC testing (in EMC-Hellas) and End-to-End SU and functional testing (in hackerspace.gr). All tests are successful and FRR is submitted.
  • August 2016. Flight model is delivered to ISIS facilities in Netherlands, with final checkout procedures successfully completed.
  • April 2017. The satellite is launched in space on board the Cygnus CRS OA-7 mission to ISS.
  • 17th of May 2017. The satellite is deployed successfully in orbit by the ISS, and is assigned Norad ID 42716

Status

The satellite as of May 2017 is operational and in orbit.

Latest project updates can be found in this website and progress can be followed through the public Gitlab repos.