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Flying “Mock” CubeSats on Stratospheric Balloon Flights: An Update about “Mock P-PODs” and the 3U “MOC-SOC”

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Abstract

    CubeSats areminiature satellites measuring only 10 by 10 by 10 cm (“1U”), or 10 by 10 by 20cm (“2U”), or 10 by 10 by 30 cm (“3U”), that are launched to orbit, usuallyalong with much-larger payloads, and deployed once in orbit using aspring-loaded ejection device known as a “(3U) P-POD” or else from 6U-deeplaunchers onboard the International Space Station. At AHAC 2019 we discussedhow we help train both stratospheric ballooning students and also CubeSat teammembers by challenging them to design and build functional, low-cost,non-space-rated (“mock”) CubeSat-shaped payloads. These are lofted by a “mockP-POD” into the stratosphere on weather balloon flights. The “mock P-POD”carries the “mock CubeSat(s)” internally until it is above the tropopause,after which it “deploys” it(them) to dangle externally for the duration of theascent and the full descent of the mission.

    MockCubeSats have varied widely in complexity and functionality, demonstrating theusefulness of this approach. They range from basic 3D-printed or laser-cutframes filled with independent, commercial-off-the-shelf sensors to custom-builtplatforms with ground telemetry and “smart” sensor-driven software. Our most technically-complex mock CubeSats to date,“MOC-SOC”, along with our mock P-POD deployer, have both undergone significantdevelopment in the past year. These upgrades have further-demonstrated the utilityof a stratospheric mock CubeSat program to both student training and ballooningpayload development. This project has also illustrated some of the limits of makinglow-cost models of space-bound payloads and flying them in near-space. Resultsfrom stratospheric balloon flights carrying MOC-SOC in 2020 will be discussed. 

Keywords: stratospheric ballooning, mock P-POD, mock CubeSat

How to Cite:

Wehling, P., Van Gerpen, A. & Flaten, J., (2022) “Flying “Mock” CubeSats on Stratospheric Balloon Flights: An Update about “Mock P-PODs” and the 3U “MOC-SOC””, Academic High Altitude Conference 2020(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.11647