Design, development, and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Maeve Doyle; Andrew Gloster; Meadhbh Griffin; Mike Hibbett; Jack Kyle; Conor O'Toole; Joseph Mangan; David Murphy; Nicholas L. Wong; Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu; Rachel Dunwoody; Jessica Erkal; Gabriel Finneran; Jack Reilly; Lána Salmon; Joseph Thompson; Sarah Walsh; Brian Shortt; Antonio Martin-Carrillo; Sheila McBreen; David McKeown; William O'Connor; Alexei Ulyanov; Ronan Wall; Lorraine Hanlon

doi:10.1117/12.2627464

29 August 2022 Design, development, and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Maeve Doyle, Andrew Gloster, Meadhbh Griffin, Mike Hibbett, Jack Kyle, Conor O'Toole, Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Nicholas L. Wong, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Rachel Dunwoody, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Brian Shortt, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Sheila McBreen, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Alexei Ulyanov, Ronan Wall, Lorraine Hanlon

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12189, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VII; 1218915 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627464
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Abstract

The capabilities of CubeSats have grown significantly since the first of these small satellites was launched in the early 2000s. These capabilities enable a wide range of mission profiles, with CubeSats emerging as viable platforms for certain space-based astronomical research applications. The Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1) is a CubeSat being developed by a student-led team as part of the European Space Agency’s Fly Your Satellite! programme. In addition to its educational aims, the mission is driven by several scientific and technological goals, including a novel gamma-ray instrument for the detection of bright transient astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray bursts. This work provides a detailed description of the software development lifecycle for EIRSAT-1, addressing the design, development and testing of robust flight software, aspects of payload interfacing, and risk mitigation. A design-to-testing approach has been implemented in order to establish, prior to launch, that EIRSAT-1 can perform its intended mission. Constraints and challenges typically experienced by CubeSat teams, which can impact the likelihood of mission success, have been considered throughout and lessons learned are discussed. The aim of this work is to highlight the advanced capabilities of CubeSats while also providing a useful resource for other university-based teams implementing their own flight software.

Conference Presentation

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Maeve Doyle, Andrew Gloster, Meadhbh Griffin, Mike Hibbett, Jack Kyle, Conor O'Toole, Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Nicholas L. Wong, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Rachel Dunwoody, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Brian Shortt, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Sheila McBreen, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Alexei Ulyanov, Ronan Wall, and Lorraine Hanlon "Design, development, and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research", Proc. SPIE 12189, Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VII, 1218915 (29 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627464

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