The NASCERR Mission – An University/Private Sector Cooperation with Cubesat

Abstract

NASCERR stands for Radiation Hard Electronics Nanosatellite (Nanosatélite Com Eletrônica Robusta à Radiação, in Portuguese). It was proposed and accepted in a call issued by the Brazilian National Research Council – CNPq for Brazilian universities and public research institutes for the development of CubeSats and their equipment/subsystems. One of the requirements of the call was the mandatory participation of private companies in the proposal and development of the CubeSat. Qualification testing at these levels will be performed at the Integration and Testing Lab (LIT) of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The CubeSat will communicate with ham frequencies and its coordination is being requested by IARU. It is a 2U cubesat where 1U holds the bus and the other U is for the payloads. NASCERR, as required by the CNPq call, is a cooperation between the university and Brazilian companies. The attitude determination and control subsystem, the solar panels, the electronic power subsystem, the structure, and the onboard and ground software were developed by these companies, while the onboard computer, the transceiver, and the onboard antenna set were imported. All the subsystems were already either delivered or contracted with delivery within the coming six months. Students from UFC and UFSM participate in the project with scholarships from its budget. Only a proto-flight model will be developed. Qualification testing at these levels will be performed at the Integration and Testing Lab (LIT) of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The CubeSat will communicate with ham frequencies and its coordination is being requested to IARU. This is the first CubeSat mission managed and developed by UFC. The mission was presented to the Brazilian Space Agency and its Space Mission Selection and Acceptance Process - ProSAME for habilitation in the official space mission portfolio of the country. The schedule of the call requests the cubesat be ready for delivery to launch by the end of 2025. Launching and ground station and operation are not included in the CNPq provided budget. The NASCERR launch is planned to 2026. This is the first CubeSat mission managed and developed by UFC. The paper presents the CubeSat's operating range, electrical schematics, and other technical details.