Written by: Larry D Frost February 16, 2012 "The UAH CubeSat," a proposal submitted by UAH's Space Hardware Club has been recommended for participation in NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative. This pilot project is intended to demonstrate viable launch opportunities for CubeSat payloads during 2013 a 2014 as auxiliary payloads on planned NASA missions. NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate received 43 proposals and is recommending 33, including UAH's proposal, for participation in the opportunity. The proposal was led by Eric Becnel, CubeSat Team Leader and Chief Engineer. The Space Hardware Club is an all volunteer, all student aerospace system design group and student organization of UAH. Its members include students from various majors including Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, and Computer Science. The CubeSat program is divided into four main groups - hardware development, mission control, analysis/modeling, and environmental testing. Hardware development includes all hardware and software development for the satellite. This includes the electrical power sub‐system, structures sub‐system, communications sub‐system, attitude determination and control sub‐system and the command and data handling sub‐system. Mission control includes the CubeSat ground station which is being operated out of the Communications Lab, located in the Engineering Building. Analysis and modeling includes the orbital power, stabilization, thermal and communication system analysis ensuring the successful operation of the CubeSat. Environmental testing includes all development testing, sensor calibration tests and flight unit qualification testing.
