The 4S Symposium 2014 R. F.

Garcia

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ENTRYSAT: A 3U CUBESAT TO STUDY THE RE-ENTRY ATMOSPHERIC
ENVIRONMENT

Raphael F. Garcia
(1)
, Jrmie Chaix
(2)
, David Mimoun
(3)
, Marc Alomar
(4)
,
EntrySat Student Team



(1)
ISAE - Institut Suprieur de lAronautique et de lEspace, 10 avenue Edouard Belin,
31055 Toulouse, France, raphael.garcia@isae.fr
(2)
ISAE, 31055 Toulouse, France, jeremie.chaix@isae.fr
(3)
ISAE, 31055 Toulouse, France, david.mimoun@isae.fr
(4)
ISAE, 31055 Toulouse, France, marc.alomar-payeras@etu.isae.fr


ABSTRACT

The EntrySat is a 3U CubeSat designed to study the uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry. The project,
developed by ISAE in collaboration with ONERA, is funded by CNES and is intended to be
launched in January 2016, in the context of the QB50 network. The scientific goal is to relate the
kinematics of the satellite with the aero-thermodynamic environment during re-entry. In particular,
in-flight data will be compared with the computations of MUSIC/FAST, a new 6-degree of freedom
code developed by ONERA to predict the trajectory of space debris. According to these
requirements, the satellite will measure the temperature, pressure, heat flux, and drag force during
re-entry, as well as the trajectory and attitude of the satellite. One of the major technological
challenges is the retrieval of data during the re-entry phase, which will be based on the Iridium
satellite network. The system design is based on the use of commercial COTS components, and is
mostly developed by students from ISAE. As such, the EntrySat has an important educational value
in the formation of young engineers.
1 INTRODUCTION
The Low Earth Orbit is getting more and more crowded with space debris. Objects at LEO
experience a natural decay process due to the atmospheric drag, which leads to their re-entry into
the atmosphere. In fact, this natural process is used as an end-of-life deorbiting strategy for LEO
satellites. France has regulated this phase with the Space Operations Act (LSO), whose compliancy
is mandatory from December 2010 for any space operation conducted on French territory. This
regulation dictates the obligation to de-orbit components of any space system. However, the
uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry can have hazardous effects on ground. Most of these objects are
monitored by ground-based systems, and computational models are used to estimate their
trajectories. However, the precise re-entry point is difficult to predict because of the dependence on
many uncertain parameters, such as the attitude of the object, the heat transfer coefficients, the
atmospheric density, and the solar activity.

The EntrySat is a 3U CubeSat designed to study the atmospheric re-entry. The size of the satellite,
34x10x10 cm
3
, is similar to the dimensions of secondary debris produced during the breakup of a
spacecraft. The satellite will collect data about the temperature, heat flux, pressure, drag force, and
attitude during re-entry. All data will be transmitted before its destruction using the Iridium
communication system. This mission is intended to be part of the QB50 project, an international
network of fifty double and triple CubeSats with the objective of studying the lower thermosphere
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(90 - 320 km). The network will consist of forty 2U CubeSats carrying the same set of sensors, to
provide multi-point measurements of the atmosphere, and ten In-Orbit Demonstration CubeSats,
which carry their own payload for technological demonstration purposes. At this time, the launch of
the constellation is scheduled for January 2016.

Valuable data has been obtained in the context of controlled re-entries. A good example is the
ATV-1 observation campaign, carried out by ESA and NASA. At the end of its life, the ATV Jules
Verne was led to a controlled atmospheric re-entry which was observed by two aircraft, equipped
with imaging and spectroscopic instruments [1]. In the United States, the Center for Orbital and
Reentry Debris Studies (CORDS) has developed the Reentry Breakup Recorder (REBR) [2]. The
REBR is an autonomous data collection system which can be attached to a launcher upper stage or a
satellite. When the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere, following break up, the REBR wakes up
and starts collecting data, which is transmitted to the Iridium network before reaching ground. At
this time, the REBR has been successfully used in three missions [3], the HTV-2, HTV-3, and
ATV-3, all of them transfer vehicles that supply the ISS. In the segment of nanosatellites, another
CubeSat of the QB50 constellation is designed to study the atmospheric re-entry, the 3U
QARMAN, developed by the von Karman Institute [4]. As opposed to the EntrySat, this satellite
contains a thermal protective unit and a drag augmentation system, to increase the stability and the
lifetime of the CubeSat.

However, the uncontrolled re-entry of space debris has not been studied so far. The high risk of this
kind of missions, as well as the short orbital lifetime, are some of the main reasons that prevent
space agencies from investing in such projects. In this context, the CubeSat platform is an ideal test
bed. The high educational impact, added to the low cost of the project, makes it possible to justify
high risk missions, even in case of failure.
2 MISSION OBJECTIVES
2.1 Science Research
The scientific objectives of the mission, which have been defined in collaboration with ONERA, are
summarized in table 1. The payload has been chosen to relate the kinematics of the CubeSat with
the aero-thermodynamic environment during atmospheric re-entry. This data will be compared with
the predictions of a new model developed by ONERA, MUSIC/FAST [5]. This model couples the
aero-thermodynamic loads with the dynamics of the object, taking into account ablation and
fragmentation phenomena. So far, the code has been tested and calibrated only for large spacecraft.
The EntrySat mission will be used to increase the accuracy of the model for small debris.

Table 1. Scientific Objectives

Scientific Objectives Measurements Sensors
Investigate the kinematics of
uncontrolled space debris
Position
GPS
Velocity
Attitude IMU, Magnetometer
Study the variation of aerodynamic
pressure during re-entry
Absolute Pressure
Absolute Pressure Sensor
Drag Force
Analyse the satellite integrity
during re-entry
Internal, External Temperature Type-K Thermocouples
Heat Flux Heat Flux Sensor
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Figure 1. Concept of Operations.
2.2 Technological Demonstration
The EntrySat is part of the ten In-Orbit Demonstration CubeSats of the QB50 project. As opposed
to the standard CubeSats of the constellation, their objective is to explore new technological
concepts in the field of nanosatellites. The main challenge that the EntrySat has to overcome is the
retrieval of data during the re-entry phase. Since the satellite will disintegrate during re-entry, data
has to be recovered in-flight. This situation presents various problems. At an altitude of about 200
km, the time window over a ground station will be of just a few minutes, which seriously
compromises the capability of downloading data and commanding the satellite using traditional
communication systems, such as UHF/VHF. Furthermore, the re-entry of the CubeSat will occur in
a short period of time over an undetermined area. Even if the ground segment consists of a network
of ground stations, it cannot be guaranteed that any of them will be under visibility.

To overcome this problem, the use of a satellite relay network came out as the only reliable
solution. Several systems in LEO/MEO orbit were considered, such as the Globalstar, the Orbcomm
and the Iridium networks. After the analysis of requirements for coverage, power consumption,
mass, and availability, the Iridium network was considered as the best option for the CubeSat
platform. This system has been successfully used in similar missions, such as the REBR and the
PhoneSat Bell, from NASA. However, the use of Iridium modems in space is not widespread, and it
needs special authorization. For example, the TechEdSat CubeSat had to deactivate the Iridium
modem because they could not obtain the FCC license on time. At this moment, the legal aspects
concerning the use of Iridium in the EntrySat mission are being considered.
2.3 Education
A key objective of the EntrySat project is to educate young engineers with a real, hands-on project.
The design and implementation of the satellite is carried out by about thirty students from ISAE,
under mentorship and supervision of faculty. For most of the students, this is the first contact with a
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Figure 2. Satellite Layout.

complex engineering project. The short life-cycle of the project enables them to participate in
several phases of the development, giving an overall picture of how space engineering projects are
conducted. This project is an invaluable opportunity that complements their academic formation at
ISAE.
3 CONCEPT of OPERATIONS
The concept of operations is summarized in figure 1. At this moment, the launch date of the QB50
constellation is set for January 2016. The satellites will be launched by an Ukrainian Cyclone-4
from Alcantara, Brazil, to an orbit of altitude 380 km and inclination 98 degrees.

After successful ejection from the deployment rack, the EntrySat will wait 30 minutes before
deploying the UHF/VHF antennas. Once the link with the ground station has been established, the
satellite will enter a commissioning phase that will last approximately one week. During this time,
the payload instruments will be tested, as well as the communication link with Iridium. During the
orbital phase, the satellite will perform measurements at a rate of 300 s. The goal is to have the
EntrySat in an optimal condition to begin the re-entry phase. The transition to the final phase will be
autonomous, triggered by an altitude threshold to be determined. It will be possible also to order the
transition by telecommand, as well as to cancel it, to recover from unexpected transitions. The re-
entry phase will be the core part of the mission. During this phase, which will last a few days, the
payload sensors will retrieve data at a rate of 1 s, up to the destruction of the satellite. All data will
be retrieved using the Iridium network.
4 MISSION DESIGN
4.1 System Requirements
The design of the EntrySat is the result of a number of requirements and factors, including

1. Comply with the scientific requirements specified by ONERA.
2. Meet the requirements set by the QB50 project. This includes the fulfilment of the CubeSat
Design Specification set by CalPoly, as well as constraints regarding the QB 50 deployment
system, the StackPack.
3. Make the project feasible for undergraduate students. Most of the work is done by
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inexperienced students, under a limited budget. This fact requires keeping the design as
simple as possible.

As a result of the last factor, it has been decided to use Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS)
components that comply with the CubeSat standard. This strategy reduces the development effort,
saves time, and increases the probability of success of the mission. For example, the On-Board
Computer (OBC) and the Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) are both provided by GomSpace, and
the 3U Structure, the Magnetorquer and the UHF/VHF Transceiver are provided by ISIS. The other
devices are COTS components coming from ground applications, but that comply with industrial
environmental requirements. The only component that will be integrally developed for this mission
is the Sensor Board, which is the interface between the payload sensors and the OBC.
4.2 System Design

The EntrySat is based on a 3U CubeSat platform, of dimensions 34x10x10 cm
3
and a maximum
weight of 3 kg. The system layout is shown in figure 2.

The configuration diagram in figure 3 shows the subsystems and the main interconnections. The
system has a centralized architecture, where the OBC is the master of the I2C bus. This protocol is
implemented in most of the CubeSat COTS components, which are interconnected via the PC104
stack connector. All the subsystems operate as slaves, responding only to requests from the bus
master.
4.3 Payload

In order to comply with the scientific requirements described in section 2.1, the EntrySat
incorporates five absolute pressure sensors and six heat flux sensors. The absolute pressure sensors
are mounted on the side faces and on the front face of the CubeSat. The heat flux sensors are
mounted on all the six faces. The mounting technique is under study, and the final choice will
depend on the results of the vibration tests.

All the sensors are interfaced with the OBC by means of the Sensor Board. This component, a joint
design of ISAE and EREMS, incorporates three Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) with an I2C
interface. The board, which is controlled by the OBC, will also filter high frequency noise coming
from the sensors, and will provide independent switching control of the pressure and thermal
segment.

The payload is completed with a GPS and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The GPS will
provide position and velocity data, necessary to determine the trajectory of the satellite during re-
entry. In addition, it will synchronize the on-board clock with real-time UTC data. The attitude of
the satellite will be determined by the IMU. This data will be used only during the re-entry phase,
not for the attitude control algorithm.
4.4 ADCS

The attitude control requirements of the QB50 mission are not very demanding. The payload
doesnt need accurate positioning, but controlled attitude is required for the correct operation of the
satellite. The main functions of the ADCS will be to reduce the tip-off rates after ejection, to
position the UHF/VHF antennas, and to orient the satellite in an optimal position for solar energy
harvesting. The satellite will have an active control system based on a magnetorquer, and the
attitude will be estimated from the measurements of a magnetometer embedded in the OBC.
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Figure 3. Configuration Diagram.

At this moment, one of the main challenges is to ensure the communication link during re-entry. In
this context, tumbling should be avoided, since the angular rate could seriously compromise the link
with the Iridium constellation. To increase the stability of the satellite, the center of gravity will be
displaced 2 cm forward. Other passive stabilization systems are currently under study.
4.5 Communication Subsystem

The communication subsystem will be the only one with some degree of redundancy. Due to the
requirements of the re-entry phase, the EntrySat will have two communication systems: a
UHF/VHF transceiver and an Iridium modem. The main communication system during the orbital
phase will be a UHF downlink / VHF uplink transceiver from ISIS. The satellite will be operated
from the ISAE ground station facilities, in Toulouse. The satellite will also emit a continuous wave
(CW) beacon, once every thirty seconds. This beacon will consist of a basic set of housekeeping
data, the Whole Orbit Data (WOD), which is required for all the satellites that are part of the QB50
constellation.

The UHF/VHF transceiver will use four tape antennas in a turnstile configuration. The antennas,
made of a shape-memory alloy, are part of the ISIS Deployable Antenna System. The deployment,
which is ordered by the OBC, will occur 30 minutes after the ejection from the launcher.

During the re-entry phase, the Iridium system will be used to download scientific data. We have
chosen the Iridium 9602 modem, which has a small footprint and a reduced mass and power
consumption. The modem is interfaced to a patch antenna of very low profile. The data service that
will be used is the Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD), which can send messages of a maximum length
of 340 bytes. The modem sends messages to the Iridium satellite network, which in turn are sent to
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the Iridium Gateway. From there, the message is transmitted to the end user by e-mail.
4.6 Command and Data Handling

The C&DH subsystem is based on the Nanomind A712D on-board computer, from GomSpace. The
board is based on an ARM7TDMI 40 MHz processor, and has 2 MB of RAM, 4MB for code
storage, and a microSD socket for up to 2 GB of storage. The main connector is a PC104 bus, which
contains the I2C and power lines. The board also includes a magnetometer, which will be used for
the ADCS algorithm, and three PWM outputs for driving a magnetorquer.

The flight software (FSW) is implemented by the freeRTOS real-time operating system, a pre-
emptive, open-source RTOS designed for small embedded applications. The use of an RTOS
provides many advantages to the development of the FSW. With an RTOS, code is organized in
tasks, improving the modularity of the software. This is a key asset that facilitates team
development: tasks can be developed independently, with clean interfaces for intertask
communication. Another benefit comes from the fact that tasks can block on events. Polling is
avoided, improving the efficiency of the system.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The EntrySat is a 3U CubeSat designed to study the atmospheric re-entry. The project has a launch
opportunity in 2016 in the context of the QB50 project, an international network of fifty CubeSats
for multi-point measurements in the lower thermosphere, funded by the European Union 7th
Framework Programme (FP7). The EntrySat project, developed by ISAE in collaboration with
ONERA, is financially supported by CNES. At this point, we have submitted the Critical Design
Review (CDR) to the QB50 committee. Depending on the results of this review, the CubeSat will
be finally selected for the QB50 constellation.

This project is the first CubeSat that has been designed by ISAE. As such, the project is a valuable
learning experience for engineering students, who face for the first time the complexity of a space
engineering project. Another project that is currently on-going is the 3U CubeSat JumpSat, a
qualification satellite to be launched in 2017.
6 REFERENCES
[1] Blasco A., et al. Analysis of the ATV1 Re-Entry Using Near-UV Spectroscopic Data from the
ESA/NASA Multi-Instrument Aircraft Observation Campaign, 62nd IAC, 2011.

[2] Ailor, W. H. et al. Spacecraft Re-entry Breakup Recorder, United States Patent No. 6,895,314
B2, May 17, 2005.

[3] Feistel, A. S., Weaver, M. A. and Ailor, W. H., Comparison of Reentry Breakup Measurements
for Three Atmospheric Reentries, 6th IAASS Conference, 2013.

[4] Bailet, G. et al. Qubesat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurement on AblatioN, 4th
International ARA Days, Arcachon, France, 2013.

[5] Prevereaud, Y. et al. Predicting the Atmospheric Re-entry of Space Debris through the QB50
EntrySat Mission, Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Space Debris, 2013.