York University Space Engineering Nanosatellite Demonstration (YuSend) Mission Development

In this paper, we review the York University Space Engineering Nanosatellite Demonstration (YuSend) program. We have identified several possible missions for CubeSat-based nanosatellites and associated enabling technologies. The potential applications for the tiny spacecraft (weighing 1kg each) include on-orbit servicing, assembly and monitoring, stereo imaging, formation flying, and GPS occultation experiments. While there are many challenges to be faced in nanosatellite design, the group is focusing on three key areas of research: power management, attitude control and autonomous mission planning. The details of current research related to the above three areas are discussed here. The objective is to demonstrate the technology to perform formation flying and on-orbit servicing using a modular power unit, thruster, and automated mission planner. This paper describes the conceptual design of York’s first satellite, the YuSend-1 spacecraft. In addition, we present the spacecraft engineering facilities at York University including the space environmental test facilities and the ground station.