AUTHOR: ALEXANDER DOKNJAS

The team has returned from Ottawa after vibration testing the flight and prototype spacecraft. The testing was performed at the National Research Council Canada (NRC) Flight Research Lab. The test used the hard mount configuration, with the CubeSat deployer provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The test profile is Nanoracks hybrid spacecraft-battery test profile, as we tested both the spacecraft and battery in one test. This profile is much more extreme than the typical hard mount profile.

Shaker table with the CubeSat deployer

Shaker table close up with adapter plate mounted

3-axis accelerometer mounted to the deployer

No accelerometers were mounted to the spacecraft itself. An additional two accelerometers were mounted to the slip table as controls

The test is a random vibration test with a pre and post random vibration sine sweep. This allows the team to identify if the random vibration caused and significantly changes the spacecraft. The main thing we are looking for is quality of workmanship, i.e. no screws loosened, cable harnesses remain connected, and nothing has fallen off creating Foreign Object Debris (FOD) inside or outside the spacecraft. We would like to thank the NRC team, specifically Viresh, Luc, and Jonathan for making the test possible and being so friendly and helpful while we were there.

ORCASat being loaded into the CubeSat deployer for the vibration test

Post-Vibration pack-up

Tristan is happy that nothing went horribly wrong during the vibration test

The satellites are packed up and ready to return to Victoria!

Check out the video we made about vibration testing. You can actually see the spacecraft shaking and watch the antenna be deployed post-vibration test.

CubeSat Vibration Testing: ORCASat Flight and Prototype Units