Deployment System for the CubeSail nano-Solar Sail Mission
نویسندگان
چکیده
The CubeSail is a nano-Solar Sail based on the 3U CubeSat standard currently being built at the Surrey Space Centre. The CubeSail mission aims to demonstrate the concept of solar sailing and at its end-of-life use the sail membrane for de-orbiting. One of the main challenges in the design of any Solar Sail is the deployment mechanism. This paper proposes a deployment mechanism for the CubeSail. This mechanism consists of four booms and four quadrant sail membranes. The proposed booms are made from tape-spring blades and will deploy a 5m × 5m sail membrane. The paper investigates four possible folding patters and proposes a Creasing Indicator to quantify the effects of folding on sail membrane efficiency. The testing of a 1.7-m engineering model of the deployment mechanism is discussed with data on angular rates experienced during deployment presented.
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