Power budget analysis for a LEO polar orbiting nano-satellite

Abstract

In April 2014, a nano-satellite project was initiated at the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Fez, Morocco in order to give graduate students the rare opportunity to experience all the challenging aspects associated with satellite design, manufacture, launch and operation. The nano-satellite follows the design concept of a 1U CubeSat, which has the shape of a cube of 10cm3 edge, of 1.33kg mass and which consumes a power of 1W. The initial orbital parameters of the nano-satellite were set to a circular sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with an inclination of 90°. The operation time was set to two years. To ensure a successful flight, it is necessary, within the scope of the project, to establish an adequate power budget to ensure that the consumed power on board does not exceed the produced power. In this work we analyze deeply the available energy required per single orbit, and summarize the estimated produced and consumed power for several operation modes of the nanosatellite in the execution of its mission.