An orientable solar panel system for nanospacecraft

An orientable deployed solar array system for 1-5 kg weight nanospacecraft is described, enhancing the achievable performance of these typically power-limited systems. The system is based on a deployable solar panel system, previously developed with cooperation between Laboratorio di Sistemi Aerospaziali of University of Roma 'la Sapienza' and the company IMT (Ingegneria Marketing Tecnologia). The system proposed is a modular one, and suitable in principle for the 1U, 2U and 3U standard Cubesat bus, even if the need for three axis attitude stabilization makes it typically preferred for 3U Cubesats. The size of each solar panel is the size of a lateral Cubesat surface. A single degree of freedom maneuvering capability is given to the deployed solar array, in order to follow the apparent motion of the sun as close as possible, given the mission requirements on the spacecraft attitude. Considerable effort has been devoted to design the system compatible with the Cubesat standard, being mounted outside on the external spacecraft structure, without requiring modifications on the standard prescriptions. The small available volume is the major constraint, which forces to use miniaturized electric motor technology. The system design trade-off is discussed, leading to the selection of an architecture based on two independently steerable solar array wings. (C) 2014 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.