Mechanical Design and Analysis for a Maritime Monitoring Microsatellite Mission

There is an increasing need for monitoring and regulation of maritime vessels. This regulation can have positive environmental and economic impacts, such as improved oceanic ecosystems and fish stocks, by reducing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Historically, maritime monitoring has been achieved through ground-based observation stations, but the use of satellites has been proven as an effective method to improve on monitoring capabilities. The NorSat-3 microsatellite mission aims to demonstrate a novel approach to ship tracking with an experimental Navigation Radar Detector payload. NorSat-3 will utilize the Next-generation Earth Monitoring and Observation satellite platform, developed at the University of Toronto's Space Flight Laboratory. This thesis describes the mechanical design and analysis for NorSat-3's structural subsystem. The methodology followed to create the satellite structure is described, as well as the methods used to verify acceptable performance. Finally, the method used to test the manufactured structure is discussed.M.A.S