TSAT - 4: Proud winner of the 2018 Canadian Satellite Design Challenge
Founded in 2010, UMSATS’ CubeSats division is an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate as well as graduate students that design and build a 3U nanosatellite.
Team Meeting Times
ADCS on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm
Payload on Sundays at 10:30 am
Competition
The Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC) is a Canada-wide competition with select guest universities across the world focused to design, build, test, and launch of a 3U cubesat into lower earth orbit. The competition has three phases: Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), and Final Environmental Testing, and runs on a 2-year cycle. CSDC is currently in its fifth iteration of the competition.
Subsystems
Payload
The payload consists of the scientific experiment that is being tested in low earth orbit, and will determine the operational requirements for the rest of the satellite system. The current experiment on the latest T-SAT involved characterizing Anabaena Cylindrica (algae) in low earth orbit to explore their applications as bio-reactors in life support systems for long duration space flights.
ADCS
The Attitude Determination and Control system is responsible for controlling the orientation of the satellite in space as required by the on-board scientific experiments. It uses a variety of sensor readings to determine the current orientation of the satellite and then drive actuators to point the satellite’s scientific components to their respective targets.
Power
The Power system is responsible for implementing an efficient energy source for the satellite using solar panels to harvest energy from the Sun and charge batteries to drive the mission. In addition, the designs include smart algorithms to control the distribution of power throughout the satellite.
CDH
The Command and Data Handling system is responsible for the flight computer hardware and software. This includes designs and implementations of the microprocessor, accompanying peripherals, and the bus structure to communicate with the rest of the components on the satellite. The CDH system is responsible for the scheduler that runs specific tasks on the satellite.
Structure
The Structure for the satellite consists of the overall body as well as the smart placement of components inside the satellite to satisfy the launch constraints. The structure also deals with the mechanical implications of the antenna and solar panel deployment and protection of all systems during the launch sequence. The Thermal system ensures that all components on the satellite remain within their operating temperature ranges throughout the mission. The system uses passive insulators, smart placement of components, and some active components for delicate payload elements.
Communications
The Communications system is responsible for sending payload data to the ground and receiving commands from the ground station using Amateur Radio bands. This includes the design and implementation of the transmitters, receivers, antenna, and beacon for the mission that will use the 70cm Amateur Radio band for communications.
Meet the team
Project Manager Co-Lead
Adam Garofalo / Adam.Garofalo@umsats.ca
Project Manager Co-Lead
Marko Kosasi / Marko.Kosasi@umsats.ca
ADCS Lead
Cody Auch / Cody.Auch@umsats.ca
CDH Co-Lead
Daigh Burgess / daigh.burgess@umsats.ca
CDH Co-Lead
Syed “Abraham” Ahmed / syed.ahmed@umsats.ca
Comms Lead
Adam Garofalo / Adam.Garofalo@umsats.ca
Payload Co-Lead
Shaylyn Pelikys / Shaylyn.Pelikys@umsats.ca
Payload Co-Lead
Rushie Tyagi / Rushie.Tyagi@umsats.ca
Power Lead
Emma Lowen / Emma.Lowen@umsats.ca
Mech Co-Lead
Adam Nixon / Adam.Nixon@umsats.ca
Mech Lead
Joshua Bond / Joshua.Bond@umsats.ca
President
Megan Carriere / Megan.Carriere@umsats.ca
Treasurer
Josh Joseph / Josh.Joseph@umsats.ca
Business Manager
TBA
Program Manager
Erica Von Stackelberg / Erica.Vonstackelberg@umsats.ca
Document Manager
Nikolaus Reichert / Nikolaus.Reichert@umsats.ca