Date of Graduation

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Huang, Po-Hao Adam

Committee Member/Reader

Jensen, David

Abstract

ARKSAT-2 is a cube satellite developed by the University of Arkansas for its second CubeSat mission. There are two objectives of the ARKSAT-2 mission. The first objective of this mission is to test a novel cold gas thruster propulsion system using water-propylene propellant. This propulsion system will be used for attitude control of the satellite. The second objective for the ARKSAT-2 mission is to test a Solid-State Inflation Balloon (SSIB) that has been designed and developed for this mission. The SSIB is designed to be a simple and cost-effective method for deorbiting the vehicle. In cube satellites, a software known as NASA Debris Assessment Software (DAS) is used. DAS is limited in the fact that it is designed for satellites that do not have propulsive capability. Due to the nature of the vehicle containing a propulsions system, a new way of using DAS was required. This new process of using DAS was developed and implemented for ARKSAT-2. In addition, orbital decays were analyzed to look at when the orbits of ARKSAT-2 and the ISS would match, and when ARKSAT-2 would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Keywords

CubeSat; Orbit Analysis; Orbital Decay

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