SBUDNIC, the Little Satellite that Could
Check out our feature in Popular Science!
SBUDNIC is a low-cost CubeSat, currently in orbit, that was designed to test the potential of inertial drag as a method of controlled re-entry. According to the US Air Force telemetry data below, our drag wings likely worked, which means that a scrappy group of students beat the European Space Agency by 6 months and millions of dollars! The press seems to be noticing, and we’ve been featured in publications around the world!
As an Engineering Analyst on SBUDNIC, I advised and aided various systems teams to ensure that their mechanical solutions had the highest possible chance of success.
It was my privilege to work with this incredibly talented group of students and professionals to design and hone many systems aboard this innovative, inexpensive 3U CubeSat.
The real challenge and fun of working on SBUDNIC was the rapid design iteration; I personally redesigned our monofilament/nichrome antenna release system five full times, including once the night before final assembly. I failed often, and (mostly) early:
Two-point compression + current test
External antenna compression
Internal antenna compression
Lightweighted internal compression
Lightweighted internal compression, shorter antenna
We used an Arduino board as our primary processor, and they were quite excited about the project! That’s me in the middle, going full Riker.