Nanosatellites

7 I-2fStructural Subsystem

Kenan Y. Şanlıtürk¹, Murat Süer², and A. Rüstem Aslan³

¹Mechanical Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

²GUMUSH AeroSpace & Defense, Istanbul, Turkey

³Astronautical Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

7.1 Definition and Tasks

The structure of a satellite is one of the satellite subsystems, and it is designed to provide a volume or a “shelter” where all subsystems are assembled and housed. The primary missions of this “shelter” are to protect all the satellite subsystems against external disturbances and to provide other subsystems a platform for healthy operation in space. Considering the overall mission of a typical satellite, the structural subsystem must be capable of meeting certain requirements as listed in the following text.

1. The structural subsystem must have sufficient internal volume to accommodate the satellite subsystems. If a canisterized deployment system, also called PicoSatellite Orbital Deployer (POD), is to be used, the interface geometry of the structure should be compatible with the deployment system. Otherwise, the structure must have the necessary mechanical interfaces compatible with that of the launch vehicle.
2. It is highly desirable that the structural subsystem is a modular design, allowing safe and easy access to subsystems, easy integration, disassembly, and servicing of the satellite components.
3. The structural subsystem should provide mechanical interfaces for solar panels, ...