Analysis and Design of an Operational Orbit for PdQSat

Abstract

This work presents the orbital design of the CubeSat PdQSat, whose mission aims to validate the technological performance of a commercial Li-S battery and an academic-developed supercapacitor in-flight. In this context, a suitable orbit selection is essential for mission success. Thus, possible operational orbits are proposed and analyzed based on the need to meet established requirements, considering orbital decay time, data transmission capacity between mission segments, and CubeSat power budget, validated by energy generation capability via solar panels. This analysis is performed using the commercial software Systems Tool Kit® (STK), allowing the generation of data and visualizations for different scenarios to assess the impact of orbital altitude and inclination on the evaluated parameters.