Project AQUIS (Aachen's QUbe In Space) is our nanosatellite project based on the PocketQube standard, which requires the main volume of it to be a cube as small as 5x5x5 cm and its weight to be only 250g. Our mission is to take our very own pictures of the beautiful planet Earth from Space, and for that our satellite has the following systems integrated on board:
- An electrical power system to gather, store and distribute sufficient electrical power for all systems that need it.
- An on-board computer to operate the satellite semi-autonomously based on on-board data and ground requests.
- A communication system to transfer data or pictures taken and receive commands from the ground operations team.
- A deployment system to activate the satellite once placed in orbit and switch from its compact launch configuration to its functional configuration.
- A attitude control system so that the solar cells are pointed to the Sun for energy generation and the camera is pointed to the Earth.
Besides all that, we work on thermal and attitude simulations, as well as collision avoidance and debris mitigation strategies. Our plan is to have our final design and registration ready by the summer of 2023, then conduct the official tests and complete the documentation, and target a launch in Q1 of 2024.
