Small-spacecraft Systems and PAyload Centre (SSPACE)

Small-spacecraft Systems and PAyload Centre (SSPACE) is a center where the faculty members from multiple departments of the institute are actively involved in the development of spacecraft systems for small satellites and science payload. The core focus is to indegeneously develop subsystems for the small satellites for the On-board Computer System, Electrical Power Systems, Communication System, Attitude Determination and Control Systems, Structures and other related subsystems

INSPIRESat-1: The Student Satellite

InspireSat-1 was successfully launched on board the PSLV C52 mission on February 14, 2022 and is being successfully operated by the students of IIST from the IIST ground station with support from the INSPIRE partners including LASP, USA and NCU, Taiwan, and NTU, Singapore. The spacecraft had an expected mission life of 6 months, however it has continued to work for more than one year till date [07-03-2023] collecting valuable scientific data.

INSPIRESat-1 is a student satellite jointly developed by Small-spacecraft Systems and PAyload CEntre (SSPACE), Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, India, and Laboratory of Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, to provide education and space science research to the students of the collaborating universities. Two other universities who contributed in this journey include NTU, Singapore and NCU, Taiwan.

The main scientific aims of the INSPIRESat-1 mission are:

Improve the understanding of Ionosphere dynamics through observations of ion temperature, composition, density and velocity. This effectively means characterization of plasma parameters and irregularities in the low- and mid-latitude ionosphere.

Improve our understanding of the sun’s coronal heating processes by measuring the Soft X-Ray spectrum of the sun.”

The payloads are expected to capture data for scientific requirements in the polar low earth Orbit (LEO) of approximately 529 Km altitude. The science data is being shared online from the website of LASP, University of Colorado, Boulder.

INSPIRESat-1 is a 3-axis stabilised spacecraft carrying two payloads, the CIP and the DAXSS. The spacecraft weighs 8.38Kg with stowed dimensions = 312mm x 190mm x 221mm [during launch without the ring], and deployed dimensions = 535mm x 190mm x 450mm [in space]. The INSPIRESat-1 was environment tested and flight qualified in LASP. The spacecraft was integrated with the IIST ground station and launched by the PSLV.

For more information, click here https://www.iist.ac.in/inspiresat1

Upcoming Missions

PILOT

Pslv-In-orbitaL Obc and Thermals (PILOT), is a payload designed for the fourth (and final) stage of PSLV with the aim to achieve thermal model validation and flight qualifications for the in-house developed On-board computer, which is expected to fly in multiple upcoming missions developed at SSPACE. The payload carries a number of temperature sensors which are used to collect valuable thermal data for thermal model validation of various subsystems in LEO. The PILOT payload has a volume of ~1U, and a mass of less than 1kg. The bus is designed to work on less than 0.5W power. The power and telemetry of the payload is through PSLV stage 4. The payload is scheduled to be launched aboard PSLV C55 in the last week of April 2023.

PILOT is an unique mission from IIST

• where an industry is begin partnered in the early stages of the development. The L&T is developing the the Structures for the PILOT using additive manufacturing.
• 3D printed structures will be flown in space for the first time

Flight model of 3D printed structured designed by IIST and manufactured by L&T

Testing of Assembled Subsystems

AHAN

With the goal of in-situ radiation dosimetry, SSPACE (Small-spacecraft Systems and PAyload CEntre), IIST Thiruvananthapuram, India, is developing a constellation of 3U CubeSats with AHAN as the first in this series expected to be launched by 3rd quarter of 2023. The CubeSat is about 2kg in mass with a nominal power consumption of about 3 Watts. The CubeSat houses a Geiger-Muller Counter for radiation dosimetry, which serves as the payload. The satellite is developed with all in-house subsystems which will also serve the purpose of flight validation of the subsystems.

AHAN CAD model and mass dummy

Other Activites in SSPACE

Small-spacecraft Systems and PAyload CEntre (SSPACE) is an interdisciplinary centre involved in the development of satellite systems and mainly driven by students and faculty of IIST. The SSPACE center is involved in realization of payloads, related electronics, small satellites, assembly, integration, testing and ground station to carryout mission operations. SSPACE at the moment is involved in the following missions

• ARIS-2 (Advanced Retarding potential analyser for Ionosphere Studies): This is a PS4 payload for LEO ionosphere studies. After the successful launch of ARIS-1 in April 2019, the data collected was analysed and promising results were found. The ARIS-2 version is getting ready for launch.
• AHAN: This is the first satellite designed and developed by the students of IIST. The mission is expected to be flown on PSLV for carrying out measurements of radiation in LEO. The prototypes of all the subsystems were completed during this period. The satellite is waiting to be integrated and tested.
• PILOT (PslvIn-orbitaLObc and Ttc): This is an offshoot of AHAN where the subsystems developed for AHAN mission will be tested in the PS4 stage prior to the flight. The subsystem designs were completed during this period and are awaiting integration and testing.
• AAReST (Autonomous Assembly of Reconfigurable Space Telescope): This is a collaborative mission with Caltech, USA and University of Surrey, UK. The MirrorSat mass dummy version 2 was delivered to Caltech and successfully completed the integrated vibration test. Furthermore, SSPACE delivered the MirrorSat structure for University of Surrey, UK. This mission is presently suspended.
• RPA for MoM-2 : For understanding the ionosphere of the planet Mars the payload RPA is being developed by SSPACE, IIST. The design of the high sensitive electronics is being developed.
• RPA for Venus: The ionosphere of Venus will be studied by an RPA being developed for the Venus mission.

Ground Station

The IIST ground station can operate in the UHF for telecommand and telemetry of the INSPIRESat-1 at 9.6kbps. The S-band is exclusively used for receiving the data from the payload at 2Mbps. IIST built a ground station in the UHF and S-band for telemetry, telecommand and data reception from the spacecraft. IIST took the responsibility of owning the spacecraft. In addition, IIST with active support from VSSC developed the advanced separation system and sought mission opportunities as a co-passenger through ISRO’s workhorse PSLV mission. IIST students participated in the documentation of operational activities for pre-launch operations at the launch site in a cleanroom environment and subsequently participated in the mechanical integration of the spacecraft to the vehicle. The end-to-end activities from conceptualisation to realisation to operationalisation created industry-ready students.

For more information, click here https://www.iist.ac.in/inspiresat1

New Missions in Pipeline

• ISAT2 – A nanosat technology mission for demonstrating IIST cold gas thruster and Topside ionosonde
• XNAV – A nanosat technology demonstration on navigation using X-ray pulsars
• A science payload - Integrated Diagnostic Module to evaluate the effects of plasma discharge on spacecraft with Hall effect thrusters is proposed in the upcoming TDS-01 satellite onboard PSLV.
• Faculty from the department of Avionics is included in the Inter Centre Study Team constituted for an advanced R&D technology project titled 'General Purpose Humanoid Robot with Human-like Degrees of Freedom’ under MyVision2030 of DTDI, ISRO HQ as well as other robotics projects.
• Space biology payload for the first developmental flight of Gaganyaan