VCC A/C

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• The purpose of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation (VCC) fulfills the following primary objectives: measures the orbital degradation for a constellation of CubeSats and provides undergraduate students hands-on mission experience in both spacecraft design and manufacturing. Presently, over 140 students are involved in the project from the four universities to develop the satellites and the software to analyze the data. By offering an industry project of this magnitude at the undergraduate level, engineering students get first-hand experience with all aspects of a real-world project.
• Orbital degradation is the gradual decrease in altitude of a satellite′s orbit. It often occurs with satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) as a result of variations in the atmosphere. Atmospheric conditions vary due to both local and temporal phenomena, leading to spatial-temporal ambiguity where it is unclear whether the variations in the atmosphere are specific to the region or result from variations in the time of day the measurement was taken. By flying a constellation of satellites, the VCC aims to take multi-point measurements of the impact of solar activity on the density of the lower thermosphere.
• In order to achieve this objective, each satellite includes a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) three-axis magnetometer and MEMS three-axis gyroscope in an inertial measurement unit and external sun sensors. The data collected from these devices is used to determine the spacecraft′s attitude and calculate the spacecraft′s drag coefficient. Additionally, each unit has a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to determine the spacecraft′s position and velocity and to track how those properties change over time. One of the satellites includes a deployable drag brake, similar to a deployable solar array. The decay patterns of this satellite will be compared to the other two satellites to better understand the effect of drag coefficient on orbital decay in LEO. Identifying the spacecraft′s attitude and position and comparing the variation in the constellation′s orbits, is expected to assist in the development of a better understanding of atmospheric density in LEO.
• A data analysis program created by Hampton University collects the various altitudes of an orbit at specified intervals and aligns that data with the predicted model of the orbits. The predicted model then updates with atmospheric conditions that would produce the orbit that best matches the experimental data.

External links:

• NASA: Satellite Information
• Virginia CubeSat Constellation: Satellite Information
• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking