Industrial Verification of Piezo Motors on a CubeSat Based Verification Platform

Due to the classification of technologies in NASA’s and ESA’s technology readiness levels, newly developed components have to be space proven before they can be utilized in space missions. This space prove can be adduced by sending these technologies to orbit either as experiment on a piggyback flight or a dedicated mission. Over the last years the size of technologies and satellites has shifted to much smaller sizes. In this paper, the possibility of industrial verification of MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) applications using dedicated pico-satellite missions is examined. Based on the CubeSat concept, a technology verification platform can be realized for verification of not only pico-satellite components, but also of components of complex systems and missions. Therefore a platform fulfilling the requirements for such industrial verification of components named MOVE (Munich Orbital Verification Experiment) is developed at the Institute of Astronautics (LRT). This platform enables professional verification of MEMS technology and techniques at overall mission costs of less than 100k€. As a first application of this approach, a mission called π-MOVE (π for piezo) will verify piezo motors on the developed platform. These piezo motors are representative for components of complex systems, as this motor concept is considered to be key technology for future segmented mirror telescope missions. In the mission design process for this platform, strong emphasis is put on the robustness of the design, low complexity and realizability within the institute’s environment. The advantages through access to both university and industry resources will be taken. The feasibility of professional technology verification is highly dependent on the test plans, which are developed in cooperation with the experienced industrial partners.