Design Solutions for a University Nano-satellite

Many universities are now involved in projects related to design, assembly, and operation of small satellites. These projects, with participation of researchers and students, and support of external companies, do not aim to compete with commercial satellites; the main goal is to increase the experience level which contributes to make space applications affordable also to small organizations. For students, participation in the complete process of satellite design, assembly, and testing, offers a unique experience within an interdisciplinary complex project. External companies are involved in creating a community of researchers focused on space applications, thus creating new markets and opportunities. The paper describes the architecture and design solutions of a small satellite developed at Politecnico di Torino in the above mentioned context. The main design goal was to combine the usually conflicting cost and reliability constraints; cost has been limited by using properly selected COTS (commercial off the shelf) devices. Reliability has been achieved through redundancy and design diversity. Focus of the paper is on overall satellite design and architecture, with details of solutions to enhance reliability down to the hardware level. The experience led to the development of a new course (master level) and to several new projects currently under way.