Abstract:
Students of the MSc course in Astronautics and Space Engineering 2004/05 at
Cranfield University took Mustang 0 as their group project. This report
summarises their findings. Mustang is a partnership of several groups interested
in technology for small spacecraft: Mustang 0 is intended to be a simple
spacecraft suitable for technology demonstration (especially highly miniaturised
systems based on MEMS or microsystem technology (MST)). A parallel student
project took place in the School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science at
Cranfield University to investigate MST available from non-space sectors and the
qualification process for space hardware. Design studies have been performed for
all the spacecraft sub-systems and build on previous work by Mustang partners.
The spacecraft designed has a mass of just less than 10 kg, a lifetime of 1
year, is 3-axis controlled, and could be launched to either GTO or LEO. New
areas studied this year include software design and operations, and some
hardware (the main structure) has been manufactured. The project conclusion is
that a low-cost (< £ 100k for a flight-ready space- craft) technology
demonstration mission is possible. The Mustang 0 study identifies no fundamental
problems, although a significant amount of work remains. Many sub-systems now
require prototyping to validate and develop the proposed designs
