High Power CubeSat Control Sub-system (HPoCCS)

To date, most CubeSat designs have been 6U or smaller and have operated within power budgets in the 10s of W or less. However, as the demand grows for greater CubeSat performance for all forms of research, operational, and commercial applications in upcoming years, these sensor-sats will require higher levels of power generation and power management. Low-cost access to space, fueled by the agile and ever more capable CubeSat supply, will consume a larger and larger portion of the space market in the near future for Earth and solar system targeted missions. As described in the NASA SBIR S3.03, ?Power Systems Management? solicitation, NASA is preparing for this opportunity and condition by seeking development of high power (100W) management systems that are compatible with 3U and larger volumes and that minimize impact of the on-orbit operations and orientation of the spacecraft. In response to this call, ASTRA proposes to develop a next generation, high power CubeSat-compatible electrical power sub-system (EPS) called the High Power CubeSat Control Sub-System (HPoCCS). The HPoCCS design will include consideration for both the volume and thermal compatibility that a high power management system will require in a CubeSat. It will enable > 100W peak high power generation from deployed solar panels, charging and monitoring of a 100W orbit average power (OAP) capable battery stack, conditioning and distribution of the battery bus voltage and converted voltages to the spacecraft, and thermal management of the incoming, stored, and distributed path power. The baseline HPoCCS EPS design will include a > 100W power charge and management board, a power conditioning and distribution board, modular battery boards to increase or decrease on-board storage levels, and will include both active and passive thermal control options for the power management board. The design will build on a prior ground-based EPS developed by ASTRA for the Air Force.