YPSat (Young Professionals Satellite) is a small satellite project consisting entirely of — and managed by — ESA young professionals. The team consists of approximately 50 people with a range of backgrounds and across multiple ESA sites.
Initiated in October 2021, the aim of the project is to design, build, test, and deliver a small satellite in less than 18 months. The spacecraft will fly on the maiden flight of the Ariane 6, scheduled for 2024.
YPSat will be the only payload on-board capable of capturing footage of key phases of the maiden flight including fairing separation, several payload deployments, as well as in-orbit imagery of the Earth.
As Lead Thermal Engineer, I am responsible for the thermal design of the spacecraft. For simplicity, YPSat makes use exclusively of passive thermal hardware from multi-layer insulation (MLI) to phase change materials (PCMs). YPSat will be the first ever ESA flight of a European-heritage PCM heat capacitor.
I am also responsible for all thermal assembly, integration & test activities, from manufacture & integration of thermal hardware to planning and executing thermal vacuum (TVAC) test campaigns.
To learn more about this exciting mission, check out the links below and continue scrolling down for photos.
Article on ESA website:
YPSat completes protoflight TVAC test campaign
European Space Thermal Engineering Workshop 2022 Presentation:
Technical Review with ESA Head of CubeSat Systems Unit Roger Walker, October 2022
Team preparing the structure for integration of flight units
Spacecraft final assembly before vibration test campaign
Spacecraft mounted on shaker table in Mechanical Systems Laboratory during vibration test campaign
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Launch detection signal board EM TVAC in Mechanical Systems Laboratory
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Integration of phase change material heat capacitor in preparation for spacecraft PFM TVAC
Simulated effect of PCM on peak transceiver temperature during 2000s long transmission window
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Installing test heaters and sensor harness for spacecraft PFM TVAC (October 2022)
Flight-spare StaMet MLI from JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) as inspiration!
Final assembly with MLI before spacecraft PFM TVAC (October 2022)
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Installation of spacecraft PFM into TVAC chamber in Mechanical Systems Laboratory (October 2022)
Installation of YPSat for FM TVAC test campaign (July 2023)
YPSat team operating the spacecraft during the FM TVAC test campaign (July 2023)
Team photo from one of YPSats’ cameras