AE grad student’s project in the news

An article entitled “Rogue Space Systems gets US Air Force funds to advance in-orbit servicing tech,”  recently ran in Space News.

It said, “Working in partnership with the University of Illinois, Rogue aims to produce a prototype dispenser at the end of one of the contracts that could host and deploy CubeSats with either tabbed or railed frames.”

According to AE Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Space Systems at Illinois Michael Lembeck, Qi Lim, a second-year master’s degree student in aerospace engineering, is leading the collaborative effort with Rogue Space Systems and their partnership with LASSI.

“I coordinate with Principal Investigator Dana Ruchti as we work through the systems engineering process and design of a new, innovative CubeSat deployer,” Lim said. “I am helping Rogue in the requirements formulation process and am responsible for the testing campaign associated with the verification of the design.”

The function of a deployer is to protect a CubeSat during launch, then release it into orbit.

“Generally, CubeSats are placed inside of the deployer through one of two methods,” Lim said. “The first method uses a four-corner mounted rail system that constrains the CubeSat within the deployer. The second method utilizes two tabs along the lower edges of the CubeSat that slots into the complementary geometry of the deployer, holding the CubeSat in place.

“Our challenge—the goal of the project with Rogue—is to develop a deployer that can be configured to use either rails or tabs, allowing for flexible, on-demand services for all customers. Designing such a configurable structure is a difficult but clearly rewarding problem that will streamline deployer-related services.”

Lim said one of the most exciting aspects of working with Rogue is the chance to directly engage with engineering industry professionals.

“Rogue is an organization focused on emerging commercial space technologies, so it aligns well with LASSI's primary focus to research innovative space technologies that lower the cost of access to space,” Lim said.