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Hardware Components

This page illustrates the main hardware components of our basic low Earth orbiting CubeSat.

  • CubeSat Kit Development Board/Flight Module

    The "brain" of the satellite. Includes a very low power Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller on the Pluggable Processor Module on the Motherboard. The aluminum structure of the CubeSat, into which Alnico V magnets are glued for passive magnetic stabilization.

  • Clyde Space EPS

    Power supply controls charging of the lithium polymer batteries by the photovoltaic panels, and produces 3.3V and 5V and ~8V raw.

    Clyde Space EPS

  • Astrodev Helium-100 Radio

    Receiver for 2m band and transmitter for 70cm band. For communication between the ground station and the CubeSat.

    Astrodev Helium-100

  • ISIS AntS Deployable Antenna

    Crossed dipole antennas for 2m and 70cm, deploy after the CubeSat is deployed from the launch vehicle.

    ISIS AntS

  • Novatel OEMV-1 GPS & University of Michigan Position and Time Board

    Space qualified GPS and mounting board.

    Novatel OEMV-1 GPS

  • IMU/Camera/Patch Antenna/Hysteresis Board

    Mounts our Microstrain Inertial Measurement Unit, our GPS patch antenna, our camera and hysteresis rods.

    IMU/Camera/GPS Patch/Hysteresis Rods

  • Photovoltaic Panels

    Outer surface of the CubeSat mounting photovoltaic cells for solar power generation and very bright LEDs to observe the CubeSat from the ground. Made for us by LED Dynamics.

    Photovoltaics Panels