Small Satellite Development

COSMIAC is a full small satellite development facility. COSMIAC engineers are able to take any small satellite project from concept to design, testing to compliance, and finally to delivery. COSMIAC's current 6U nanosatellite launched in the Summer of 2019. A representation of the spacecraft is shown below.

Concept and Design

COSMIAC has experience in PCB board design, structure design, mission planning, power system design, radio system design, and are experts in other types of embedded systems. COSMIAC has the capability of taking your mission concept to a workable design.

Fabrication and Assembly

COSMIAC’s clean room allows for development to take place without fear of contamination of flight components. Our engineers are able to complete assembly of a spacecraft while complying with all regulations set forth by launch providers. COSMIAC is also able to assist in obtaining all relevant licensing requirements for any given mission such as FCC, IARU, and NOAA. If your organization is new to the small spacecraft market, COSMIAC can assist with keeping your mission on task and in compliance with all rules and regulations.

Environmental Testing

In every satellite mission, compliance with the launch parameters is critical. COSMIAC is able to provide environmental testing for small spacecraft to show that the design is able to survive the launch and space environments. This involves subjecting the spacecraft to vibration profiles, then placing it in a vacuum chamber and varying the temperature while performing system specific tests.

Spacecraft Operations

After launch, you will need a way to communicate with the spacecraft. COSMIAC has designed and deployed its own ground station on site. In addition, COSMIAC is one of Navel Post Graduate School’s MC3 ground station network nodes. The MC3 adds a secondary ground station to the COSMIAC site. COSMIAC also has teamed up with other institutions to share ground station resources. With COSMIAC’s on-site capabilities combined with its “Sister” ground stations, COSMIAC is able to achieve remarkable coverage of on-orbit assets.

Delivery

Once the spacecraft has been built and tested, the exciting step of delivering the spacecraft takes place. COSMIAC can assist with this process. If you have any questions regarding this process, feel free to contact us.