Design And Development Of RVSAT-1, A Student Nano-

satellite With Biological Payload

Kai Maitreya Hegde Abhilash C R
Department of Aerospace Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
R V College of Engineering, R V College of Engineering,
Bengaluru – 560059, India Bengaluru – 560059, India
kaimaitreyah.ae15@rvce.edu.in abhilashcr.im15@rvce.edu.in

Anirudh K Pramod Kashyap

Department of Aerospace Engineering Department of Aerospace Engineering
R V College of Engineering, R V College of Engineering,
Bengaluru – 560059, India Bengaluru – 560059, India
anirudhk.ae15@rvce.edu.in pramodpk.ae15@rvce.edu.in

APPENDICES .............................................................. 11 

Abstract— Many universities across India are coming up with
low-cost Pico/Nano/Micro Satellites that have community based
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................ 12 
missions or payloads. Most of these are solely built by students REFERENCES ............................................................. 12 
who have no or very little experience in space technology. BIOGRAPHY ............................................................... 14 
Students are driven by sheer motivation to build satellites and
make exhaustible plans, especially in the ones which are
carrying a biological experiment to space. RVSAT-1 is the first
nano-satellite from India to carry a mass of microbes to space in
1. INTRODUCTION
a custom-designed apparatus. Microbes were carefully selected Small satellites play a huge role in our economy and research
on the basis of their presence in human gastro-intestinal tract development as it provides a great stand to various research
and a ground-based analysis was done beforehand. Systems opportunities. The RVSAT-1 nanosatellite, short for
engineering (SE) methodology is adopted while making such a
robust satellite, way before from the time of initiation of
Rashtreeya Vidyalaya SATellite, is being developed by the
fabrication. The satellite is of a 2U CubeSat standard design students of RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru with a
with 10 cm × 10 cm × 22.7 cm dimensions and an overall weight sheer intention of ameliorating the knowledge in satellite
of 2.66kg. The satellite is capable to operate at a flexible orbital technology and to excel in the domain of miniaturization of
height since it has no observation payload. It houses a beacon electronics and components to attain comprehensive
system that is switched on at all times which posed a challenge coverage at an optimal cost. Team Antariksh, was formed in
while designing the electrical power subsystem. A payload 2015 under the department of Aerospace Engineering, but
chamber is also incorporated with two independent systems: the later grew into an interdisciplinary research project. The
microbe characteristic measurement apparatus and a team recruits annually from all 12 branches of engineering
deorbiting system housing an electrodynamic tether-type
mechanism. The satellite is expected to stay in orbit for 1 year
offered by the college including Chemical Engineering and
to carry out the microbe growth and metabolism measurements Biotechnology, as they have an equally important role to play
and then undergoes a deorbit phase of 2 years. Tools like AGI in the payload subsystem, of which the description is
STK were used to model the mission and FDIR (Fault Detection, provided in the upcoming sections of this paper. As a student
Isolation and Recovery) obtained was applied to all the satellite initiative team, it is very important to protect the
subsystems. continuity and build the enthusiasm in the young minds of
future generations. Hence we actively participate in the
TABLE OF CONTENTS publicity of the team within the institutional campus and
capture the best bright minds to take part and work as a team,
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1 learn about space technology. The team consists of a Project
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................... 2 Manager, the Chief Technical Officer, the Mission Manager,
3. MISSION ................................................................ 4 the Heads of all subsystems and the members working under
4. SUBSYSTEMS ....................................................... 5  7 different subsystems. All the designations follow guidelines
5. INTERACTIONS .................................................. 9  as stated by Thomas Uhlig et al. [1]. The satellite itself is a
qualification platform as we demonstrate the use of COTS
6. PRE-LAUNCH OPERATIONS ......................... 11  components to reduce the cost of development and the time
7. POST-LAUNCH OPERATIONS ....................... 11 span of the project. The satellite is expected to be put into a
8. CONCLUSION .................................................... 11 low earth orbit of 600 km in late 2019 aboard the Polar

1
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This paper will give the secondary payload succeeded as the signal received using a
reader some insight on the CubeSat design when the photo multiplier. [2]. The technique of having robust features
secondary payload is non-observational, non-optical and on in a nano-satellite was well demonstrated in this study and it
how the deorbiting is conceptualized. became effectively handy for the study being conducted in
this paper.

Underwood et al. [2001] built SNAP-1, United Kingdom’s

first nanosatellite. It was mainly meant and designed for the
testing of the COTS components due to the increase in the
modular systems. This satellite was launched using a Russian
Cosmos Launch Vehicle. The COTS components and
nanosatellite was selected for facilitation of concurrent
design, easy availability of components and simplicity. The
power system included a simple regulated 5V bus and a raw
bus. For data transfer, Controller Area Network was used and
simplified harness was implemented. OBC and Machine
vision system was based on Arm processor. All the simplified
version of standard connectors like 9 D connectors and 44 D
Connectors were used. The design allowed all the
mechanisms and avionics to be isolated. The main objective
of building this nanosatellite was realized by using COTS.
The cost amounted to less than 1 million Euros. This led to
the adoption of the SNAP module in the United States Air
Force Academy. [3]. The use of COTS components bore
good results and proved useful as well as economical to
continue the study pertaining to this paper.

Aalto-1 was developed by Kestila et al. [2013] The aim was

to develop a nanosatellite comprising of only students with
Figure 1. RVSAT-1 tentative sun synchronous orbit of about 500-900 km altitude.
The mission was to have a multi-payload system with
accurate attitude determination, VHF/UHF and S-band
Table 1. RVSAT-1 Specifications datalink, GPS unit for determining position. Since it is a
multi-payload system, the payloads are spectral imager based
Spacecraft RVSAT-1 on piezo actuated Fabry–Perot interferometry, a miniaturized
Mission Type Experimental, System Design and radiation monitor (RADMON) and an electrostatic plasma
Verification brake. The spectral imager payload will capture images
Organization R V College of Engineering within 500-900 nm spectral range. The RADMON will be
Mass 2.66 kg active 80% of the time to monitor the radiation level and
Altitude 580km - 600 km collects data of around 2 MB in 24 hours. The plasma brake
Dimensions 2U, 10 cm × 10 cm × 22.7 cm will be inclined at 20 degrees to the poles in order to achieve
Orbit Polar LEO the required objective. [4]. The results presented by Kestila
Power 12 W et al. was very much important for the work performed in our
Accuracy < 10° study and helped in gaining lot of inputs related to the
Communication UHF & VHF components and their specifications to be employed.

Bouwmeester et al. [2010] presented a survey of world-wide

2. LITERATURE REVIEW picosatellites and nanosatellites. They created a database of
picosatellites and nanosatellite missions which are already in
Tanaka et al. [2014] built a 1U CubeSat with a payload of orbit and also those that are yet to be in orbit. The database
demonstration of high-speed transmitter on board. The has been formed by considering several online databases,
satellite was launched from the International Space Station. project reports and research papers. The main source used is
The specifications used for the payload was 115.2 kbps, 5.84 the SCALES developed by Delft University of Technology.
GHz, FSK and 2W RF output. Alongside the demonstration This document yields an overview of 94 nanosatellites and
experiment, the secondary mission was to make the satellite statistical analysis. Among all the satellites, 52% have come
as a twinkling element in space using LEDs in order to check from education sector and 71% of them are for technological
the possibility of communication through light. The demonstration. USA being in the top with 58 satellites, the
transmitter was recorded as the time for receiving the images rest of the world is yet to achieve this feat. The statistical
from satellite and it was received in 2 to 6 seconds. Also, the analysis indicates that the picosatellites and nanosatellites are
2
becoming invariably popular among the people in the Failure (SPoF) analysis was performed. Also, without SPoF,
education sector. This is due to the readily available the mission threat probability was on the higher side. A
technology in the form of COTS and small size which Systems engineering approach was given with proper task
involves less investment of capital compared to large flow, descriptions, documentation and interface within
satellites. [5]. Since this paper focused on statistical analysis different systems to maintain a professional space
of specifications of large number of satellites, it gave a clear environment. By the consent of IARU, Delfi-C3 was all set
cut picture of the components to be used, design to be to operate in the amateur satellite service. The launch was
implemented and the shortcomings that are possibly to occur successful with nominal behaviour by the telemetry with all
in the due course of fabrication of a nano-satellite. fully functional solar panels and antenna systems. The
onboard software switched into the science mode from
Cuadrado et al. [2017] presented a paper that emphasises the deployment mode which was in turn switched from a 5-
slow movement of microgravity research from the hands of minute idle mode. Radio amateurs’ network across the globe
big giants in aerospace, to the smaller sectors like research was proven to be successful. Initially, there were difficulties
and development and education due to the development of in spotting the satellite which was indeed recovered later.
nanosatellites which can be developed at lower economic Most of the operations were successful and the IV curve
value. The number of satellites being launched from 2000-12 results of the TSFC was obtained with an accuracy of almost
within 3 kg mass is 99. The number of satellites in the same 1% [8]. The paper focuses on overall specifications of all
mass region is 278. This shows the exponential increase in subsystems that go into a nano-satellite and gave the current
the projects related to nanosatellite. The uses of small study with impetus required to employ the necessary
satellites in-line with the larger satellites are managing subsystems and their specifications.
disaster events, relief services etc. The services of the larger
satellites can also be carried out using the nanosatellites as Lunar mission is carried out by a 6U nanosatellite to conduct
well. Because of the advantages, no dedicated launch system experiments and obtain results. The study conducted by
is required as it can be piggy backed. The waiting time can Gupta et al. [2017] focuses on the components required in a
be reduced for less than 2 weeks. Flexibility in timeline can CubeSat to accomplish such a mission. Along with this,
be obtained [6]. The paper mainly served as a source of possible payloads that can be employed on a lunar mission is
information regarding the importance of nano-satellites and also established. Structure system with a mass of 12kg will
their applications in the future. be sufficient enough for carrying out a lunar mission by using
Aluminium Lithium alloy as the material and Carbon-Carbon
Smith et al. [2010] built a CubeSat called ExoplanetSat to composites for the exterior panel. Busek’s BIT-3 RF is the
detect transiting exoplanets. This is a concept developed to iodine fueled ion thruster comprising of inductively-coupled
detect exoplanets near the brightest and nearest sun-like stars. plasma (ICP). The usage of BIT-3 eliminates the employment
The satellite is a 3U CubeSat having a telescope to detect of pressurized tanks and ensures a specific impulse 1400-
exoplanets. This satellite has a novel two-phase attitude 2640 and a velocity of 3km/s. Attitude determination and
control combined with reaction wheels. Since this is a control is done based on usage of sensors such as start tracker,
concept, a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted with Nano-SSOC-A60 Analog sun sensor and reaction wheel
respect to imaging in the presence of reaction wheel jitter. assembly. Power is generated in the satellite by using GaAs
The offset observed was in the 3-sigma limit. The noise level solar panels having mass of 107g and generating a minimum
observed was found to be large and had to be improved [7]. of 7.2W and Lithium Ion battery pack in which batteries will
This study provided with most of the necessary information be connected in parallel and each battery having a battery
required in the subsystem of Attitude Determination and capacity of up to 10400mAh. Communication system
Control System which is an integral part of a nano-satellite. comprised of transponder and antenna system with length of
UHF 17cm and VHF 55cm and a nominal power
Bouwmeester et al. [2008] presented the mission results of consumption of less than 40mW and 2W during deployment.
the Delfi-C3 nanosatellite. The main objectives of Delfi-C3 This also has an I2C interface, -20oC to +60oC temperature
was the testing of thin film solar cells which have higher range and an operating voltage of 3.3-5V. Cube computer is
power-to-mass ratio by obtaining IV-curves, testing of used for command and data handling which is flanked with
autonomous wireless sun-sensor in space on a satellite and ARM 32-bit Cortex-M3 MCU. Cube computer has an
usage of amateur radio communication platform with a linear operating voltage of 3V, -10oC to +70oC operating
transponder which would lead students to indigenously temperature, I2C bus voltage of 3.3-5V, mass of 50-70g and
prepare a successful space mission. The objectives were duly a power consumption of less than 200mW. Thermal control
realized with a Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principle by coatings, multi layered insulation, thermal switches and high
employing simple techniques in realizing of a mission rather conductance cold plate are the components which provide
than going for time consuming and tedious techniques. protection to the satellite from temperature hazards. The
Emphasis was laid on prototyping of the satellite as it reduced payloads employed in this mission are Inertial Measurement
the burden of facing complications during the completion Unit (IMU), SCS Gecko Imager Camera, Cosmic Ray
stage and also to accommodate huge modifications on an Detector and Infrared Spectrometer. The result will help
actual model. For small components where quantifiable realize complex lunar missions and experiments in a CubeSat
reliability figures could not be obtained, Single-Point-of- at a much lesser monetary requirement and prove that lunar

3
missions can be made feasible by student satellite programs. focal lengths, five processors two RX-TX communication
Lunar missions can be made feasible by student satellite modules. Importance is given to protecting the on-board
programs. It will also bare result with respect to the magnetic circuits from Single Event Effects (SEE) like Latch-up and
properties of the moon, lunar dust and other features about Upset The complete architecture of a small satellite and its
moon that are unknown to mankind [9]. Based on the results design solutions are provided and the combination of cost and
obtained in this paper, the components and their working reliability is shown. The cost was reduced by using COTS
temperature range, communication range, voltage range and components and reliability was increased by using redundant
other specifications were properly understood and systems [12]. The effects such as single event latch-up, upset
implemented in our current study. and burnout was clearly understood and the economic benefit
of use of COTS components for a university-based satellite
Nakanishi et al. [2017] developed a 3U CubeSat named was found to be helpful for the current study.
OrigamiSat-1 for conducting research on advanced
membrane deployment mechanism in outer space. This is Rogers et al. [2014] presented a paper on how to build on the
aimed at benefitting structures required for de-orbiting, solar success of small satellites. The objective was to address the
panel deployment, sun shield etc. This paper focuses on technical, performance and programmatic elements of
improving these drawbacks by conducting experimental and utilizing nanosatellites and small microsatellites to serve in
numerical analyses about deployment mechanisms in their the emerging roles as replacement functionality or
CubeSat, OrigamiSat-1. The CubeSat consists of bus, augmentation to larger traditional science and military space
membrane deployment systems, extendable camera and missions. The advancing nanosatellite technologies over the
ground station. A rotationally skew folding opens up into years were studied and compared. Single Sensor Satellites
space when OrigamiSat-1 is put in orbit. Thin film solar cells were found to be less complex when compared to larger
are attached on to the boom from the ceiling which will satellites. The ORS SensorSat was developed using the
compensate for the gravity which otherwise will take care of CubeSat standards and it was compared with a larger satellite
the deployment. CubeSat is launched from the rocket, to showcase the fact that a satellite can be built using
antennas are deployed, extendable mast is opened and highly minimum cost and yet perform all the functions. The
functional membrane is deployed. The development of technologies involved in the development of small satellites
OrigamiSat-1 has helped to improve the deployment will keep advancing in the coming years [13]. The
mechanism in future space missions, demonstration of improvisations that can be made in the future based upon the
technology in a smaller mission thus helping economically success of a particular nano-satellite mission and the
and thus enhancing amateur radio communication [10]. applications of such satellites in future can be best understood
in this paper.
Nogueira et al. [2015] developed NetSat-4G. This is a four-
nanosatellite formation for global geometric gradiometry. Ashida et al. [2010] presented a paper with an objective to
The objective includes simultaneous measurement of give an overview of the Cute 1.7 series and also introduce the
geomagnetic gradients in all three directions using four mission operations of Cute 1.7 + APD II, the successor to the
nanosatellites carrying vector magnetometers and flying in a Cute 1.7 APD. High performance and low-cost commercial
Cartwheel – Helix formation at low altitude. Three satellites devices are used in the Cute series. Three magnetic torquers
are placed in one plane with same eccentricity and argument and PDAs with software upload functions are used for
of perigee separated by 1200. The fourth satellite is placed in Attitude control. A digital repeater function is provided by
another plane with same inclination but with smaller which ham operators can upload their messages to the
eccentricity and offset of RAAN. A 3U nanosatellite with satellite. All the subsystems are tested before and after
deployable solar panels and COTS components including assembly. In the Cute 1.7 + APD II, gyro data was acquired
miniaturized star trackers, SDR GNSS receiver and a cold- for 4 minutes in 10 Hz resolution while antenna deployment
gas micro propulsion system is used, with a mission life of 4 was conducted at 3 minutes after separation. 15 photos were
years. Full gradiometry mission simulation is performed taken by the on-board camera. In addition to the AX .25
using synthetic data of the magnetic field vector from protocol and AFSK, another protocol called SRLL is
CHAOS-5 model. The simulations were performed for one included. This enabled over 60 ham users to exchange
month and the model was compared with the original messages [14]. The communication protocols required for the
CHAOS model [11]. successful realization of a telecommunication system was
well understood and implemented from this paper in the
Passerone et al. [2008] provided design solutions for current study.
university nanosatellites. They described the architecture and
design solutions of small satellites developed at universities Dr. Kim Luu et al. [1999] presented a paper with an objective
with focus on cost and reliability solutions. The mission of employing the satellite cluster approach to overcome the
objective is to transmit telemetry data to the ground and take hardware and computational challenges of TechSat 21. In
pictures of the northern hemisphere of the Earth at different order to develop the distributed system, a mission of USAF
resolutions. The nanosatellite is designed completely using was taken as reference and a cluster of 35 nanosatellites was
COTS components except for solar panels. It contains five deployed for radar imagery. The life span was put at 10 years.
solar panels, six battery packs, three cameras with different Nanosatellites with all the system configurations were
4
developed by a conglomerate of 10 universities. Apart from referred to as the active mode. The magnetorquer consists of
the normal functions, inter-satellite communications and copper wires wound in the form of coils in all three axes and
propulsion were focused on, to study the advantages of when current is passed through it, a magnetic field is created
distributed system of satellites for TechSat-21 [15]. and the nanosatellite stabilized as a result. Peak power is
consumed during the active mode while negligible power is
3. MISSION consumed during safe mode and suspended mode.
3.1 Primary Mission The ADCS subsystem of RVSAT-1 focuses on using
Commercially Off the Shelf (COTS) components and one of
To deorbit the satellite by using passive methods, eliminating the most important of such components is the Inertial
the possibility of our satellite contributing to space junk. Measurement Unit (IMU). The IMU contains a Global
This mission statement primarily emphasizes- Positioning System (GPS), an accelerometer and a
1. Space junk which is of utmost concern to all space magnetometer. The main function of the GPS, as the name
scientists after completion of the satellite mission is suggests, is to help locate the nanosatellite in orbit. Another
tackled successfully. important component used in the ADCS subsystem is the sun
2. Demonstration of technology for simple and easy sensor. The sun sensor tracks the position of the sun and
way of tackling the issue of space junk. orients the satellite in that particular direction, so that
3. Avoiding extra contribution to space junk through maximum solar irradiation falls on the solar panels and
our mission where nanosatellites have already been maximum power is generated.
maximum contributors.
4.2 Electronics and Control Logic (ECL)

3.2 Secondary Mission The Electronics and Control Logic (ECL) subsystem consists
of the On-Board Computer (OBC) which controls all the
To measure the characteristics of the lyophilized bacteria in actions that take place in RVSAT-1. It acts as the brain of the
a liquid medium under low earth orbit and microgravity system, processing and controlling the inputs that it receives,
conditions. and gives the desired output. STM32F407 from
This mission statement primarily emphasizes- STMicroelectronics is used as the OBC for RVSAT-1. The
1. Achieving safe and prosperous manned missions in OBC acts as a media of communication between the on-board
future. components and the ground station.
2. Conducting experiments on bacteria dwelling in the
The task of an OBC is to control every subsystem on-board,
human gut which is of great importance to human
as no changes can be done manually after the nanosatellite
health. reaches the orbit. Every component and system is expected to
3. Bacteria in human gut under normal conditions work in certain prescribed voltage, current and temperature
behave properly while examining the behavior of and the task of the OBC is to monitor these conditions using
the same bacteria under rapid space conditions is the data that it receives from the various on-board sensors.
necessary. The OBC stores these data in the form of bits and sends it
4. Demonstration of technology to achieve missions at down to the ground station for analysis and if there is any
lowest possible cost expenditure. change in the conditions that has to be necessitated, the
5. Nanosatellite payloads can be numerous because of information is sent back to the OBC and it initiates the same
its low cost and compact in size. Thus, several [16].
payloads of similar kind but different missions’
achievement can be demonstrated. Each subsystem is programmed to function as required, on
the ground, and these programs are written or fed directly to
the component (in case of a programmable component) or to
4. SUBSYSTEMS the STM32F407. Different codes and programs are written
for various functions in the nanosatellite system and these
4.1 Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) include drawing of a particular voltage and current by a load,
power consumption at every instance, duty cycle of each
The main objective of the Attitude Determination and load, start / shut down of loads and activation of mechanical
Control System (ADCS) subsystem is to stabilize the components or designs on-board RVSAT-1. All these codes
nanosatellite when in orbit. RVSAT-1 undergoes five main are fed to the OBC after iterative simulations on ground and
modes viz. Detumbling mode, Active mode, Safe mode, if OBC processes the information of any component that is
Suspended mode and Deorbiting mode. It is of prime exceeding the desired conditions, it commands the particular
importance to stabilize the nanosatellite once it is launched as component or system to correct itself on-board.
it keeps tumbling, which is referred to as the detumbling
mode. There are two ways of stabilizing – three axis The codes, if written in different programming languages
stabilization and spin stabilization. RVSAT-1 is employing initially, have to be written in a common language that is
magnetorquers to stabilize it and while it is functioning, it is understood by the STM32F407. The method of data transfer
5
also varies during uplink and downlink and is component 4.4 Payload (PLD)
specific. Hence, both Serial and Parallel data transfer is made
use of. In addition, to receive all the mission and The payload aboard RVSAT-1 is divided into two parts-
housekeeping data and to store them, flash memory with
EEPROM is used [17]. i. Primary Payload, consisting of a deorbit rig

4.3 Electrical Power System (EPS) ii. Secondary Payload, consisting of the microbe
characteristic measurement apparatus (MCMA)
The objective of the Electrical Power System (EPS) of
RVSAT-1 is to generate the required amount of electric 4.4.1 Primary Payload
power and provide it to the loads for the smooth functioning
of the nanosatellite. The EPS can be viewed as consisting of This section of the payload consists of a hoytether [19] with
three categories viz. Power Generation, Power Storage and a bare-wire anode and an FEC (Field Emission Cathode), a
Power Distribution and Management. ballast to induce gravity gradient force on the nano-satellite.
The principle of operation remains the same as stated by
RVSAT-1 will be employing triple junction GaAs solar cells Forward R L et al. [20]. The tether material was chosen to be
to generate power. The solar panels will be placed on all the Al 6066 T6. The tether is drawn into a diameter of 0.079 mm
rectangular faces (+X, -X, +Y and -Y) of the nanosatellite, in accordance with AWG standards and the thickness of the
excepting the top and bottom faces. The solar panel is coating of electroless Nickel plating is 0.0254 mm. The
configured such that there is no hindrance from the chassis effective diameter of a single strand is thus 0.120 mm. A
railing or the sun sensors that will be placed on each face of plasma contactor is provided to link the tether and the plasma.
the nanosatellite. A part of the generated power will be used
to charge the batteries while the remaining power will be The drag force generated in RVSAT-1 for an altitude of 600
provided to the loads. km is calculated using the equations –

Li-ion batteries of 1200 mAh will be used in a 2S-2P

configuration. The capacity of the batteries has been decided 𝐹 (1)
depending on the power budget of RVSAT-1. The batteries
will be placed in a battery box and thermal protection will be
provided to make sure that it works in the operating 𝐹 𝐹 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼 (2)
temperature range, thus maintaining its expected lifetime.
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) [18] will be used
in order to extract maximum power from the solar panels and FE is the Lorentz force and FD is the drag force. The time of
the same will be given to the batteries through a Battery orbit decay in this case is found to be varying from a few
Charge Regulator (BCR), which will provide the right months to 2-years maximum.
amount of voltage and current to charge the Li-ion batteries.
4.4.2 Secondary Payload
An indigenous power distribution system will be developed
and employed in the EPS of RVSAT-1. Three voltage buses The Microbe Characteristic Measurement Apparatus
– 3.3V, 5V and an unregulated bus will be used to distribute (MCMA) consists of a chamber having an asterisk base,
power to the various loads. Since the voltage from the solar cuvettes, light sources and light detectors each in eight
panels and batteries are higher than the required load voltage, numbers connected to On Board Computer(OBC) of
DC-DC buck – boost converters will be used to supply the RVSAT-1. This entire assembly represents an Optical
necessary voltage to the loads. Load protection is done using Density (OD) measurement system. Quartz cuvettes contain
Current Limiting Switches (CLS) in each load line. The medium and lyophilized bacterial pellets. The eight cuvettes
switches will also be used to cut-off power to any load, if rest on Bakelite based asterisk base with their base glued to
necessary. the pockets in the base. Upper portion of the cuvettes has
membrane with pellets of calculated/specific amount of
Apart from this, health monitoring is undertaken, where bacteria, resting on it. The eight cuvettes contain medium
voltage/current sensors will be used in each load line to with different concentrations ranging from deficient to
monitor the behavior of the loads. Fuel Gauges will be used sufficient concentration. Pellets come in contact with the
to monitor the voltage, current and temperature of the medium upon breaking the membrane using a spring attached
batteries and the data from these sensors will be downlinked to ceiling of the cuvette, which is actuated by solenoid
to the ground for monitoring. Based on the sensor data, any through tele-command. This sealing also prevents the
changes to be made on-board will be communicated from the accidental spilling of the medium. Every cuvette is succeeded
ground. by a light source of appropriate wavelength of 610 nm
followed by a photodiode to detect the intensity of
transmitted light from the cuvette, from the center.
Absorbance readings of the sample (bacteria in medium) are
recorded every hour. The light source is switched on and the
6
optical density (OD) values are recorded with plain medium
acting as the reference. Absorbance of the medium is
calculated in OBC using the measured intensity values of the
transmitted light.

The above process is repeated for both sufficient and

deficient media concentration and absorbance values are
recorded in each care for all phases of growth. From these
values, growth curve is generated and the same is compared
with that generated by experiments on Earth and analyzed.
This complete setup is accommodated inside a chamber. This
chamber is used to isolate the experimental setup from
magnetic interference from outside the chamber as well as
from inside to outside the chamber, radiation and to maintain
optimum temperature for bacterial growth. This chamber is
cuboidal and is made of 2 mm thick sheets of Al 6061T6. Figure 2. Secondary Payload
Temperature control within the chamber is given by the
thermal subsystem of the satellite.
4.5 Structure and Material Design (SMD)
The bacteria selected for this experiment was Clostridium The Structure and Material Design (SMD) subsystem intends
perfringens [21]. This was chosen from a shortlisted pool of to develop the nanosatellite chassis, such that it can
80 bacteria considering the following factors. accommodate all the other subsystems required for the
functioning of RVSAT-1. Another important requirement of
I. Prior tests and experiments on the bacteria and their
the chassis is its ability to withstand the loads during the
results.
launch. Keeping these factors in mind and to adhere to the
II. Nature of metabolism; metabolic pathways decide
requirements of the launch vehicle, the CubeSat standards
in what way a living organism maintains its life.
have been followed in developing the chassis of RVSAT-1.
Aerobic and anaerobic pathways are two broad
categories of metabolic pathways. The CubeSat standards [25], put forth by Stanford University,
III. Locomotor organs and support. The human gut requires the structure of the satellite to be in the form of a
environment is a dynamic one with constant changes cube of dimensions 10 cm x 10 cm x 11.3 cm, which is
in nature and amount of fluid flowing. referred as one-unit cube or 1U. Building on this standard,
IV. The other important factor is the bacterium’s role in RVSAT-1 will have one cube over another, called as a 2U
the human digestive system in particular and on the structure. The structure is made up of Aluminum 6061 T6 as
body as a whole. it has a good strength-to-weight ratio, thus resulting in a
V. The ability of the bacterium to depict opportunistic lightweight structure.
pathogenic behavior as these bacteria take
advantage of weakened immune systems to The quasi-static analysis has been carried out and the results
proliferate. are well below the safe limit and hence the satellite structure
is safe. The end faces of the rails are rigidly placed in the P-
The data is sent at each pass over the ground station and is POD and hence a fixed support is given as a boundary
compared with the off-board generated data: The experiment condition. Also, the boundary conditions for the lateral faces
has already been conducted on ground and the results have of the rails are given as frictionless support [26]. The loading
been obtained. This allows the direct comparison of growth conditions are applied as given in the appendix.
and other parameters. A slosh analysis also was performed on
the bacteria-medium assembly and the results are available in Ultimately, every component has to be assembled with other
[22]. components with a particular standard interface. For this
purpose, many miniaturized and standard hardware interfaces
To augment this type of a system, different kinds of sensors are followed. Such interfaces are provided in a rudimentary
are fitted inside the payload chamber. These include a TE explanation in Table 2 [27] [28][29].
1240 pressure sensor [23], a G2K7D411 thermistor [24] and
a radiation counter. The data from these sensors is centralized
to the main OBC.

7
 Table 2. Mechanical Interface Matrix
ADCS ECL EPS PLD SMD TS TT&C
ADCS
ECL SPI port,
9 way
female
micro D

EPS Regulated Unregulated

voltage bus voltage bus,
I2C
PLD NA NA NA
SMD 3 mm 3 mm threaded 3mm threaded H-Support
threaded rod for PCB rod for PCB, from the
rod for SPDT – J7 chassis
PCB 250VDC for
kill switch,
Flat inline
Omnetics
connectors for
solar panels
TS TBD TBD TBD TBD MLI
TT&C Pf 1/8 pin I2C Regulated Nil Coax cable Nil
MCX Voltage Bus for antenna
female RF
connector

The chassis of RVSAT-1 has been designed using CATIA V5 Following the design, the structure is subjected to stress and
from Dassault Systems [30]. Every part, from the screws, vibration analysis. The actual conditions are simulated and
fasteners, rivets to the railings and the rectangular enclosure stress distribution on the structure is obtained. The design is
has been designed individually and assembled to obtain the iterated to make sure that the stress distribution is within the
final structure. The structure of RVSAT-1 has undergone prescribed limits and M3 screws are used for the same reason.
many iterations to make sure that all the parts are precise and The design is carefully examined to avoid even the minutest
fall within the required dimensions with tolerance. of the part which can concentrate stress at a particular part of
the chassis. Later, the structure is subjected to vibrational
analysis where the frequency of each mode of vibration is
made to fall within the limits and avoid resonance. The modal
frequencies of RVSAT-1 are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Modal Frequencies

Mode Number Frequency (Hz)

1 1090.5

2 1095.0

3 1160.6

4 1228.1

5 1429.6

6 1672.8

Figure 3. Quasi-Static Analysis of the structure

8
Another important part designed by the SMD subsystem is field-of-view and transmit and receive signals during that
the kill switch (snap circuit), which is required to switch on time.
the power supply to RVSAT-1 after it reaches its designated
orbit. The kill switch, though being an electrical switch
operated with a timer, is integrated into a mechanical design
with a spring system, that will help establish power supply at
the required time.

4.6 Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C)

This subsystem establishes communication between the on-

board electronics and the ground station when the
nanosatellite is functioning in orbit. The main components of
this subsystem include the antenna and the beacon. The
beacon signal helps in identifying the nanosatellite when it is
in orbit. The antenna consists of a transmitter and a receiver
and it helps in exchanging information between the
nanosatellite and the ground station.

Figure 5. Ground Station Architecture

4.7 Thermal System (TS)

RVSAT-1 which orbits at an altitude of 600 km faces harsh

temperatures ranging from extremely cold sub-zero
temperatures to extremely hot temperatures well above
100°C. The components used in various subsystems of the
nanosatellite work at a temperature range, much lesser than
the extreme space temperatures. Hence, the main objective of
the Thermal Subsystem is to maintain all the components and
the nanosatellite as a whole, at the functioning temperature
range so that they do not fail.

There are various ways to achieve thermal control in a

nanosatellite and they are broadly classified as Passive and
Active Thermal Control. Passive thermal control techniques
do not require electric power to achieve the required
temperature, while it is otherwise for active thermal control
techniques. RVSAT-1 employs a combination of both these
methods in order to provide the necessary thermal control and
protection required for the components in the nanosatellite.
One of the major part of the nanosatellite that is exposed to
Figure 4. TT&C Work Flow Diagram extremely harsh temperatures is the structure. A passive
technique of insulating the entire structure with Multi-Layer
Every subsystem requires communication as data collected
Insulation (MLI) is employed to protect the nanosatellite.
by various sensors and the payload data must be sent to the
Along with MLI, Kapton tapes are also used for the same
ground. The amount of data transmission depends on each
purpose. Battery, being one of the components that is more
subsystem and hence, data sent and received varies
prone to temperature failures is placed in a temperature
accordingly.
protective enclosure called the battery box.
Ground station, required to receive on-board data is set up at
Apart from the passive techniques, dynamic temperature
R V College of Engineering, Bengaluru. It contains high-end
control of the on-board components is done by constant
computer systems required to retrieve and analyze data. A
monitoring of temperatures using temperature sensors. The
Yagi antenna is built indigenously at the ground station. The
data is processed by the On-Board Computer (OBC) and
antenna is built in such a way that it can orient itself to the
9
downlinked to the ground station. Upon analysis of the data, environment in LEO which the RVSAT-1 will span through
an information is uplinked to the OBC and it commands the was simulated using SPENVIS.
louvers (active technique) to open or close as per the
requirement.

Every component that goes into the nanosatellite has its own
functioning temperature range. The challenge is to control the
temperature in such a way that it suits all the working
components. Also, every component or system that uses
electrical power to function, dissipates a certain amount of
heat that depends on the current passing through it. Hence, to
analyse heat dissipation and activate heat sinks when
required, electro-thermal analysis is done for every
component using ANSYS and SINDA.

The entire payload chamber is temperature controlled, to

minimize the temperature fluctuation levels. The thermal
subsystem acts as an on-board incubator. Thermal cycling is
of RVSAT-1 needs to be controlled, where it will be
subjected to cycles between extreme temperatures. These
extremes range from a minimum of -45°C to +150°C, Figure 6. Preliminary thermal analysis under heat flux
whereas the bacteria Clostridium perfringens encounters the
temperatures between +25°C to +55°C, as a result of active
thermal control mechanism (micro-heaters) in the satellite. 5. INTERACTIONS
As the satellite spends roughly 55 minutes in the sunlit region
and the remaining 45 minutes in the shadow region, there will From down to systems level, it is important to know the inter-
be temperature gradients generated and not only the satellite subsystem compatibility and their synergistic effects. Since
has to sustain the resulting thermal fatigue but also the this mission follows a concurrent engineering methodology,
bacterium should adapt itself to changing thermal growth it is very much essential for every subsystem to be aware of
environment. the consequences of not meeting the specific requirements of
other subsystems. Hence an interaction table is necessary
which is explained in Table 4.

Table 4. Inter-Subsystem Interactions

ADCS ECL EPS PLD SMD TS TT&C
ADCS
ECL Processing
of the data
from GPS
and IMU
onboard
EPS Power Power supply
supply to the to the
sensors and processor
IMU Processing
Solar and retrieval
pointing for of battery
maximum health, voltage
power and current
generation levels in the
circuits.
PLD Nil Processing of Power
the data by supply from
ECL obtained EPS to the
by the active
observations components
of the of the PLD
experiment

10
 SMD Positioning Positioning of Activation Fixture/positioni
of magnetic the ECL board of the power ng of the
rods in the in the structure circuit post payload
structure to to protect from launch using chamber to
achieve exposure to kill switch make the
higher energy with the aid payload less
torque to particles in of a timer. susceptible to
maneuver space Affixation of launch loads
the satellite the solar
panels on the
surface of
the structure
TS Temperature Temperature Temperature Temperature Encapsulation
control of control of control of control for the of the MLI
ADCS ECL processor EPS – conduction of coating around
components Processing of batteries and the experiment the surface of
the distribution the satellite
housekeeping circuits
temperature Power
supply to the
micro-
heaters
TT&C Antenna Transfer of the Transfer of Transfer of the Stowing of the Temperature
pointing processed data housekeepin processed data antenna and control of
to the ground g parameters form the deployment TT&C boards
station and the from the onboard when the
transfer of the onboard computer to the satellite is in
command to computer to ground station orbit
the processor the ground
station

6. PRE-LAUNCH OPERATIONS i. Performance - Duration of mission, 3 months.

ii. Configuration Management - 2U CubeSat, 2.66kg
The documentation process is given utmost importance, with iii. Traceability – Design Review documents
compiled versions of Baseline Design Report (BDR), iv. Uniqueness - MCMA
Preliminary Design Report (PDR) and eventually the Critical v. Verification – Thermo-vac Tests, Random
Design Report (CDR). General mission analysis tools like Vibration Tests, Hardware-In-Loop-Simulation,
AGI STK (SatPro) were used to calculate the orbit trajectory, Battery Testing, all of which will be performed at
link budget and other preliminary design parameters. the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The payload testing is being conducted at Institute
RVSAT-1 needs to be incorporated inside a P-POD (Poly- of Animal Heath & Veterinary Biologicals
Picosatellite Orbital Deployer) [31] and is to be mounted on (IAH&VB).
the PSLV. The payload will be given special attention while vi. Tolerance – Defined for each component.
integration process because of its delicate hardware and
indigenous design. An RBF pin [25] is provided to cut the The electrical interfaces are robust and PSLV Handbook [32]
power to the satellite when inserted, in accordance with the is followed in this case. The connector to be used is:
CubeSat standards. It is removed after the CubeSat is DBAS 74 12 0SN 059 On Spacecraft side.
integrated into the P-POD. The kill-switch circuit ensures that DBAS 78 12 0PN 059 On the Vehicle side.
the whole system is inactive during launch. This circuit The connector for mounting on the Spacecraft side is
consists of two external switches which are responsible to provided by ISRO. The umbilical link is extended from
cut-off power for subsystems from both battery pack and Vehicle to Checkout Terminal Room (CTR) and is accessible
solar panels. up to To-60 Hrs for Checkout and battery trickle charging
[32].
The driving factors for this mission are defined, derived from
the description given by Andreas Ohndorf [1] and are as
stated- 7. POST-LAUNCH OPERATIONS
The launch of RVSAT-1 is expected to be in the late 2019
aboard the piggyback on the PSLV. The ground station will

11
be calibrated and other ground stations will be intimated of valuable technical support provided by Institute of Animal
any imminent passes to retrieve payload data. Since no Health & Veterinary Biologicals, Bengaluru, Indian Institute
encryption is posed on the data, it is made open source and of Astrophysics, Bengaluru and U R Rao Satellite Center,
loaded on our website so anyone can access it for scientific Bengaluru. Also, the authors are thankful for the constant
purposes. The data generated will also be handed over to support provided by Prof. C S Prasad, Visiting Professor,
ISRO, in order to augment to the upcoming manned missions. Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, R. V. College of
Engineering and the members of Team Antariksh without
8. CONCLUSION whom this project would not have progressed.
The above discussed work and results are the indication of
technical progress of RVSAT-1 so far. This includes the
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13
BIOGRAPHY
Kai Maitreya Hegde is an undergraduate
student currently pursuing his Bachelor’s
degree in Aerospace Engineering from R. V.
College of Engineering, Bengaluru, India.
He is the Chief Technical Officer of Team
Antariksh. His areas of interests include
astronautics, spacecraft controls,
astrobiology and space environment studies.
He has presented papers related to astrobiology and
microgravity.

Abhilash C R is an undergraduate student

currently pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in
Industrial Engineering from R. V. College
of Engineering, Bengaluru, India. He is in-
charge of the overall physical design of the
nanosatellite in Team Antariksh. His areas
of interests include Product design,
Computer Aided Design, Manufacturing
and Quality.

Anirudh K is an undergraduate student

currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree
in Aerospace Engineering from R. V.
College of Engineering, Bengaluru,
India. He the Mission director of Team
Antariksh’s nanosatellite mission. His
areas of interest include avionics,
aerodynamics, propulsion and
computational fluid dynamics. He has presented research
papers related to fault detection of spacecraft systems.

Pramod Kashyap is an undergraduate

student currently pursuing his
bachelor’s degree in Aerospace
Engineering from R. V. College of
Engineering, Bengaluru, India. He is the
Project Manager of Team Antariksh’s
project of building a nanosatellite. His
areas of interest include Aerodynamics,
propulsion systems and Project
management.

14