Abstract:
CUSTARD (Cranfield University Space Technology And Research Demonstrator) was
the group design project for students of the MSc in Astronautics and Space
Engineering for the Academic Year 1999/2000 at Cranfield University. The project
involved the initial design of a nanosatellite to be used as a technology
demonstrator for microsystem technology (MST) in space. The students worked
together as one group (organised into several subgroups, e.g. system,
mechanical), with each student responsible for a set of work packages. The
nanosatellite designed had a mass of 4 kg, lifetime of 3 months in low Earth
orbit, coarse 3-axis attitude control (no orbit control), and was capable of
carrying up to 1 kg of payload. The electrical power available was 18 W (peak).
Assuming a single X-band ground station at RAL (UK), a data rate of up to 1 M
bit s-1 for about 3000 s per day is possible. The payloads proposed are a
microgravity laboratory and a formation flying experiment.
The report summarises the results of the project and includes executive
summaries from all team members. Further information and summaries of the full
reports are available from the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield University.
