Delfi-C3 Project

Delfi-C3  is the first university-class satellite and also the first nano-satellite from the Netherlands. In
2004, at the Delft University of Technology, students supported by staff members initiated this project
with the following objectives. It was launched on 28 April 2008 from India. Delfi-C3 is a full mission
success and is still operational! 

The mission objectives of Delfi-C3

1. Hands-on education & training of students on a real spacecraft project.
2. Demonstration of four arrays of Thin Film Solar Cells (TFSC) from Dutch Space.
3. Demonstration of two Autonomous Wireless Sun Sensors (AWSS) from TNO.
4. A Radio Amateur Platform (RAP) from TU Delft, comprising a linear transponder.
5. Development of a modular nanosatellite spacecraft bus and a distributed ground segment. 

Delfi-C³ Autonomous Wireless Sun Sensor

Payload
Delfi-C³ houses two sun sensors from TNO (www.tno.nl) which are fully autonomous and wireless.
With the typical internal volume of a nanosatellite already being quite limited, reducing wiring is an
important challenge. The sensors have a half-sized GaAs solar cell as an independent power supply.
This autonomy is accompanied by a wireless radio frequency link. This link is an adapted commercial
off-the-shelf transceiver, operating in the 915 MHz band.

Although wireless data communication on board such small satellites might seem a bit superfluous in
itself, implementing this technology adds to modularity and results in a flexible “plug and play”
system. The autonomous sensor unit, in this case measuring approximately 60x40x20 mm, is a
predecessor of an even smaller digital version that can be mounted on e.g. a solar panel.

The in orbit experiment concentrates on demonstrating the feasibility of the wireless link (immunity
for disturbances; no interference with other equipment) and the operation of the sun sensor under
variable power supply. Of one sensor many data has been gathered and analysed. It has proven to
work as expected, demonstrating the feasibility of this concept. As such, the experiment is succesfull.
The other sensor has never been heard, also during exciting and unique attempts to listen to it directly
using high end space telescopes as described in a paper.

Key results have been published in a paper: C.W. de Boom, et. al., In Orbit Experience of TNO Sun
Sensors, Proceedings of the 8th ESA Conference on Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems,
Carlsbad, Czech Republic, 2011.
Delfi-C³ Thin Film Solar Cells Payload
Thin Film Solar Cells (TFSC), developed by Dutch Space, are tested onboard Delfi-C³. It's performance
over time is verified by measuring two key characteristics of photovoltaic cells: the IV-curve related to
the temperature. In total four solar cell assemblies are measured by two  electrical boards.

TFSC Characteristics 
The Thin Film Solar Cell is an innovative development by Dutch Space (www.dutchspace.nl). The cells
consist of a CIGS photovoltaic layer which is deposited by evaporation on a titanium base layer of 25
micrometers. The aim of this new type of solar cell is to create a light-weight and low-cost product for
future space applications. The target is a 50% cost reduction of solar arrays, while improving the
power to mass performance with 50% compared to conventional solar cells. Cost is projected to be
lower than 350 Euro per Watt at solar array level, and the power is expected to be more than 100
Watt per kilogram. The cell will have no need for a cover glass, but it will have an
emissivity-enhancing and encapsulating dielectric coating. The efficiency is about 12 % under AM0
light conditions. 

TFSC Measurements
A total of eight measurement points are taken of each TFSC assembly to reconstruct the current-
voltage (IV) curve. First the short circuit current is measured. From this first measurement, the other
7 points are measured by taking a percentage of this measurement through switching resistors with
fixed values. In order to measure the temperature of the TFSCs a strip is used as an RTD temperature
detector. 

A paper has been published on the results of the TFSCs in the proceedings of the IEEE Photovoltaic
Specialist Conference in 2010.
 

Delfi-C³ Attitude Determination & Control

System
The Attitude Determination & Control Subsystem (ADCS) of Delfi-C³ comprises two separated
sections: attitude determination and attitude control.

Attitude Determination
The attitude determination onboard Delfi-C³ is kept very simple and is not intended for onboard
operations. The autonomous wireless sun sensor payload from TNO provides information on the sun
vector when the sun is in their field of view. As this is not omni-directional and to avoid cross-
dependencies between payloads, each solar panel is equipped with a reference photo diode. This
photodiode provides a value of the solar flux to correlate this with the thin film solar cell payload
measurements. It can also provide a simple means of determining the attitude of the satellite towards
the sun.The in-orbit results provide insight in the solar angle at different times. It also provides a
rough estimation of the rotational rate of the satellite.
 Attitude Control
The attitude control is designed as a completely passive system. The spacecraft does not have any
active attitude control and is free to rotate about all its axes. However, in order to limit the rotation
rates of the satellite to about two rotations per minute, magnetic hysteresis material and a permanent
magnet is be employed to limit rotation rates using the Earth's magnetic field. This Passive Magnetic
Attitude Stabilization (PMAS) system consists of a small permanent magnet with a dipole moment of
0.3 A·m2 and two Permenorm 5000 H2 hysteresis rods of each 769 mm3. The intention of this system
was to dampen the rotational rate to a oscillation with an average rotational speed of 0.1 o/s.

The damping should have taken place in a few hours from a maximum of 10 o/s. The real in orbit
results shows that the damping takes place, but in a much slower pace than modelled: from about 5o/s
to 0.1 o/s in three months. A plausible hypothesis for this is the close presence of the permanent
magnet causing partial saturation of the hysteresis rods. A paper on the results of this system has
been published in the proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress of 2009.

Delfi-C³ Electrical Power Subsystem

The Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) is generating electrical power and supplying it to the
various loads in an appropriate form. The solar panels are produced by Dutch Space and the circuitry
of the general power supply is developed by SystematIC BV.

Power generation is accomplished by using four solar arrays. Every array consists of a single string of
5 TEC1 triple junction gallium arsenide (GaAs) cells in series, which are provided by Dutch Space. The
panels are deployed to an angle of 35 degrees with respect to the body to ensure sufficient power
production at every attitude. One of the most striking characteristics of the Delfi-C³ spacecraft is the
absence of energy storage. All required power at a particular instance has to be generated by the solar
cells. Therefore, the Delfi-C³ spacecraft is not operational in eclipse. During eclipse the spacecraft will
shut down due to an inability to maintain the required bus voltage, and during the sunlit part of the
orbit the computer will commence a new boot sequence for powering up the spacecraft.
As the electrical characteristics of the solar arrays are dependent on temperature and level of incident
radiation, power conditioning is applied to produce a stable bus voltage. Step-up converters are used
for generating 12V on the bus. Every individual solar array is equipped with its own converter to
ensure redundancy in the system. With respect to power conditioning, no specific provisions are made.
This means that only the required electrical power is removed from the solar array, with the remaining
power staying at the array. As the minimum required power is far less than the maximum generated
power, the operating point of the solar cells will move along a large part of the IV-curve of the solar
cells.

Because every individual load aboard the spacecraft makes use of a characteristic input voltage, the
bus voltage is converted down to the needed voltage locally (3.3 V, 5V, etcetera). In order to waste as
little power as possible, high efficiency step-down converters are applied, which are able to yield
efficiencies of approximately 85%. Power supply to the individual printed circuit boards is controlled by
a local microcontroller. This microcontroller is able to switch subsystem on and off when it receives a
command from the onboard computer. .

Delfi-C³ Command and Data Handling

Subsystem
The Command and Data Handling Subsystem (CDHS) provides command handling, data handling,
onboard autonomy and configurability. The Delfi-C³ reliability philosophy is fully autonomous OnBoard
Computer (OBC) for nominal centrally controlled operations and a decentralized backup mode in which
the OBC plays no role. The OBC is a commercial FM-430 board from Pumpkin Inc. It controls the
whole satellite, but each subsystem has one or more microcontrollers for local control. Most internal
communication takes place via I²C on the System Bus. 

Every subsystem has a local microcontroller (PIC) and a local EPS part, under control of the CDHS. A
combination board is used as an interface-to-interface between the FM-430 with a PC/104 interface
and our custom developed bus interface which is used by all other subsystems. It also houses the
receiver side of the sun sensor payload.

The OBC gathers data every second and packs this in an alternating series of housekeeping and
payload frames which are sent to the radio transceiver, which on its turn directly sends these frames
in AX.25 format. There is no data storage onboard, so reception of the data is dependent on visibility
of the satellite by ground stations.

The in-orbit results show some anomalies in the I²C communication. It has been found that the low
speed microcontrollers cannot cope with the relatively fast and heavy bus traffic, even though the I²C
specification is followed and clock stretching is allowed. Fortunately, this issue did not have a negative
impact on the mission success and the lifetime of the satellite. It does however sometimes cause
arbitrary periods of time in which the satellite is not transmitting data. This is recovered by either a
telecommand or after eclipse.

Delfi-C³ Communication Subsystem

The communications subsystem (COMMS) provides the telemetry downlink and telecommand uplink
functionality. Besides that, it provides a linear transponder service which can be used by amateur
radio operators to communicate with each other. The satellite has an uplink in the satellite segment of
the UHF amateur radio frequency band (435-438 MHz) and a downlink in the satellite segment of the
VHF amateur radio frequency band (145.8-146.0 MHz). Telemetry downlink is done using 1200 bit/s
BPSK modulation and the amateur standard AX.25 protocol. Telemetry is packed in AX.25 frames.

The COMMS consists of two Radio Amateur Platforms (RAPs) which are almost identical, except that
the primary has a linear transponder and the secondary not. The RAPs are built using standard
commercial-off-the-shelf components.The linear transponder will relay a 40 KHz wide passband from
the UHF band to the VHF band. This provides a very flexible system, which can be used by amateur
radio operators worldwide using CW, SSB and PSK31 modulation. Unfortunately the transponder
functionality has deceased after a few months of succesfull operations.

The antenna subsystem consists of a two canted turnstile arrangements, one for each band. The
antennas are fed in quadrature phase in order to achieve the desired pattern and polarization by
means of a phasing circuit, which connects to both transceivers. The antennas are stowed in launch
configuration in a modular antenna box. The eight antenna are safely deployed in orbit, by melting a
restraining wire on command by the onboard computer.

Delfi-C³ Structure, Mechanisms & Thermal

Control
 Structural Subsytem
The Delfi-C³ structure is based on the 3-unit solid chassis from Pumpkin Inc. A 3-unit CubeSat has a
total structure length of 326.5 mm and a cross-section of 100x100 mm. The total length of the
satellite is 340.5 mm, the extra length is from support feet at both ends (top and bottom). The
function of these support feet is to keep the 1-unit CubeSats separated from each other in the P-POD
and to house separation springs.

The primary structure consists out of the tube chassis and the top and bottom panels. Together these
components absorb the mechanical loads during launch and provide the electrical ground. The primary
structure components are made from Aluminum 5052-H32 and are alodyned, the P-POD contact
surfaces have been hard-anodyzed.

The secondary structure supports the PCB stack inside the primary structure. It consists out of four
threaded rods that run the full length of the structure that are connected to all three the components
of the primary structure to increase the rigidity.

The Solar panel structure is a segmented design, mainly to minimize the mass and optimize the
overall performance during the launch phase. The main section or substrate of the Solar panel
structure supports the GaAs (TEC1) triple junction Solar cells and a separate frame located at the end
of the panel suspends the thin film solar cell (TFSC) payload.

Mechanical Subsystem
The Mechanical subsystem of Delfi-C3 comprises several mechanisms to deploy the solar panels
and the antennas. There is one similarity between to two mechanisms eventhough the deployables are
completely different: the same release mechanism is used.

There are five distinct phases to the deployment of the solar panels on Delfi-C3: hold down, release,
deployment, confirmation and stopping/locking. Each phase or action is performed by a different
component of the solar panel deployment mechanism. The solar panels are deployed to an angle of
35oto obtain the most omni-directional power from the incoming Sun light; the deployed configuration
resembles a tetrahedron.

The antennas are part of the communication subsystem of the satellite. Since the antennas are longer
than the satellite body, they need to be folded in a way. The Modular Antenna Boxes (MABs) store the
antennas during the launch and deploy the antennas 5 minutes after POD ejection. The hold down
mechanism is similar to the solar panels. A lid keeps the resilient antenna in place during launch.  

Thermal Subsystem
The Thermal Control Subsystem (TCS) maintains the subsystem and payload temperatures within the
allowable temperature ranges. Excess heat generated by the satellite is dissipated to cold space by
means of radiation. Also, the TCS monitors the temperature of spacecraft subsystems and payloads.
In order to keep the thermal control subsystem as simple as possible, a completely passive TCS
design has been made. No active components like heaters or coolers have been incorporated in the
design.

The Delfi-C3 Satellite is free to rotate about all axes. This means that all surfaces will receive heat
fluxes at arbitrary times. The satellite does not have a dedicated radiator surface pointing to cold
space at all times, the radiators will also encounter direct sunlight. Thermal tapes are used to reflect
part of the sunlight and radiate part of the heat.