The team currently uses software such as STK, Ansys, and reTort for modeling and analysis. Some of these softwares require the purchase of licenses in order to use them.

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A key component of the ContentCube payload is the monitor. The inspireFly team still has multiple display monitor options on the table that need to go through further testing before being down-selected.

Various additional testing components are required to complete the testing phase before our Critical Design Review. Many of these components are for the vacuum chamber our team has built such as power and data cords and pump controllers.

Given a successful launch, you will have first access to upload images to be displayed on ContentCube.

The Vector Nav 100 is an $800 inertial measurement unit system that will report the specific gravity and angular rate of the CubeSat. This component is essential to the attitude determination and controls system. Purchasing this component will allow for more in depth testing of our attitude, determination, and control systems in the Virginia Tech Helmholtz cage.

The Ximea camera is the most promising yet most expensive camera option for the payload at the moment. For more objective camera testing and the later build, it’s important that the team purchases four of these cameras. In total, these cameras will cost $2,700.

The antenna system is critical to the transmission of data to and from the CubeSat. The antenna system we have selected has a high price point at $6,500, but its extensive flight heritage and reliability justify such a high price. Purchasing the antenna system will allow us to test our communication system prior to a complete build.

An engineering model is crucial to testing integration of various components. Not only would the purchase of an engineering model allow the inspireFly team to practice building the CubeSat before building the flight model, the engineering model could also be used by other VT CubeSat teams in the future. The engineering model is expected to cost the team about $25,000 total.

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The KRATOS bus is the basis of the entire ContentCube design. Due to budget constraints, we are currently planning to purchase the KRATOS 1A bus. However, the 1B bus has additional customization options including 10W solar arrays and NEMEA shielding which would allow our team to have more component/design options, better thermal regulation, and protection against radiation. The total cost of the flight model KRATOS bus will be between $42,000 and $65,000.