Iowa Satellite Project

With a few exceptions, satellite systems to date have been large and expensive. Over the past decade, there has been a growing interest in small, inexpensive satellites built and operated by universities to provide students with a 'hands on' engineering experience. It was decided that the university would design, build, and operate a satellite called ISAT-1. The primary mission of ISAT-1 is to provide a broad educational experience to Iowa citizens of all age groups and educational backgrounds. The requirements of the project are that ISAT-1 must be a small, inexpensive satellite that can be launched by mid-1996, have an operational lifetime of five years, and can be designed, constructed and operated by university students. This satellite will have a mass of 50 kg and will be shaped as a hexagonal cylinder 34.0 cm wide and 64.3 cm tall. ISAT-1 will be launched into a circular, low Earth orbit as a secondary payload aboard a Delta II rocket in late 1995. The satellite will be stabilized using an extendible gravity-gradient boom with tip-mass and magnetic torquers. The body-mounted solar panels and rechargeable batteries will provide approximately 25 watts of continuous power. A variety of onboard payloads are designed to accomplish the educational goal including a CCD camera with a small telescope particle detector, Earth Radio Frequency Experiment, and a robotic arm with a miniature CCD camera to examine the exterior of the satellite. Also, a network of weather stations positioned across Iowa will send weather and soil conditions to ISAT-1 for relay to the ground station. The entire project is expected to cost $2 million. The report gives an overview of the design effort of ISAT-1 and a detailed description of the bus, payload, and ground systems.