Design, analysis, testing, and implementation of the CanX-1 structural, thermal, and attitude control systems

Recent advances made toward miniaturizing electronics and mechanical components have pushed the satellite market toward developing smaller, low cost satellites. In response to this, the Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment (CanX) was initiated at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies Space Flight Laboratory, in September 2001. CanX-1, the first satellite designed under this program, has mission objectives of verifying the functionality of several novel electronic technologies in orbital space. This thesis focuses on the design, analysis, testing and implementation of the CanX-1 structural, thermal, and attitude control systems. This includes developing subsystem requirements, completing the design from preliminary to “ready for flight” stages, and performing qualification tests. Analyses and testing verify that the structural and thermal subsystems are sufficient given both launch and on-orbit environments. Simulations predict that the implemented attitude control system can sufficiently detumble CanX-1. CanX-1 was launched through EUROCOT Launch Services on June 30, 2003.