Development of a CubeSat payload for in-orbit computing and LoRa communications

This Master’s Thesis deals with the development of an embedded system designed to perform computing and communications tasks in a CubeSat type nano-satellite flying in low earth orbit (LEO).

The project entails the development of the hardware for the payload of Estigia, Pluton UPV’s first CubeSat mission. Pluton UPV is a team of students interested in the development of nano-satellites under the Generación Espontánea programme of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).

The purpose of the Estigia mission is to enable users on Earth to communicate directly with a chatbot running on the satellite by only using their smartphones and low-cost LoRa-based mini-ground stations. To achieve this, the CubeSat payload developed in this Master’s Thesis incorporates a Compute Module (CM) to provide the processing power needed for the onboard Artificial Intelligence (AI) running the chatbot, as well as a LoRa gateway. LoRa is a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) technology oriented towards the Internet of Things (IoT), characterised by its long-range, low-power and low-cost communication capabilities.

This Master’s Thesis in Telecommunications Engineering represents a continuation of the author’s previous Master’s Thesis in Electronic Systems Engineering. In light of the results and lessons learned from the preceding thesis, this new development iteration re-evaluates the original design with the aim of streamlining it and adapting it to changes in requirements and mission objectives. This thesis therefore reviews the system’s operational conditions and evaluates several hardware designs prior to their incorporation into the payload’s final design.

The working methodology employed is based on the Engineering Design Process (EDP). The project uses several CAD and EDA tools in order to simulate and implement the electronics, taking manufacturing and testing considerations into account.

The final objective of this Master’s Thesis is to demonstrate the application of multi- disciplinary knowledge, the capacity for analysis and synthesis inherent to engineering, as well as the documentation of the entire process.

This Master’s Thesis has also benefited from the collaboration of the Microwave Applications Group (MAG), a member of the Institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM-UPV).