Thermal analysis and testing for CubeSat based missions

The boom of the New Space sector has been mainly influenced by one concept: the CubeSat standard. The use of this standard has increased the COTS products utilization. Therefore, the components¿ testing has become paramount for the success of a satellite mission. This project aims at studying the thermal procedures required for ensuring the correct thermal health of two satellite missions developed by UPC NanoSat Lab: 3Cat4 and RITA Payload. The study starts with the design and the execution of thermal simulations performed on RITA Payload using the Thermal Desktop software. After the simulations, the study of the procedures and specifications required for executing an Environmental Test Campaign on the RITA Payload hyper-spectral camera is conducted. As for the 3Cat4 mission, a thorough evaluation about the Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) has been conducted. The analysis starts by delving into the EPS Engineering Model, studying the communication protocols required for connecting the subsystem to the On-Board Computer (OBC), and it continues with a characterization and verification of the subsystem¿s thermal performance along with the issues that are detected throughout the whole study, being the most important issue the loading effect detected when charging the EPS. The analysis continues with the EPS Proto-Flight Model (PFM), comparing its behaviour with the previous model and analysing additional parts of the subsystem, as though the heater. Once a specific subsystem is analysed, the study of the procedures and specifications required for executing an Environmental Test Campaign for the whole 3Cat4 satellite is performed. Finally, the general conclusions are provided. In general, this project is aimed at providing some insight about the thermal procedures required for ensuring the safety of a satellite mission, easing the tasks for other future missions and contributing to guaranteeing the correct health of both RITA Payload and 3Cat4