Mechanical design, implementation and testing of a helix antenna deployment system for a 1U CubeSat

CubeSats are the tech trend in the space sector. They allow to send experiments to orbit the Earth using reduced dimensions. This is the case of the 3Cat-4, a mission developed in the Nano-Satellite and Payload Laboratory at the UPC as part of the "Fly Your Satellite!" program of the European Space Agency (ESA). However, to perform these experiments, it is necessary a mechanical support. In this case, to extend a helix antenna which must stay compressed at the beginning of the mission, it is necessary to develop a deployment system. This project reflects the work done in the innovative deployment system of the 3Cat-4 mission, from the definition of the design until the detailed design. There are included some tests performed and the final implementation results. It is studied the State of the Art to understand the special conditions and solutions founds in the space environment. With the general requirements of the mission, there are defined the specifications and functionality of the deployment system. It is done an analysis of the principal aspects, to determine the possible alternatives and select the most accurate. To develop the materialization design and detailed design it is used the information obtained from prototypes and different tests. This iterative process will be explained. There are reflected the tests designed and performed to ensure the required behaviour of the deployment system. It was necessary to decide how to demosntrate the accomplishment of the requirements, and define these tests with a precision detail of step by step. In some cases, it was necessary to design the test equipment too. Specifically, there are explained the tests that affects to the antenna behaviour during storage and deployment, and the ones that study the threads that allow to keep compressed the system. There are exposed the results and the interpretation or knowledge contributed by them. Finally, the implementation is described. There are included the principal manufacturing aspects and the integration procedure needed by the system in order to be ready for be used. Several of the mentioned steps of this project are documented according to the European Space Agency demands. To have a complete information, it is added the planning followed and the necessary budget. In addition, it is included a brief environmental study of the implications of the project. The deployment system designed in this Master’s Thesis is expected to be launched to space in 2020. This document is also expected to be useful as a base for future antenna deployment systems for CubeSat