Testing of Small Satellite Systems and Impact on Engineering Curriculum

The aerospace systems field has recently been attracting more and more interest in the industry, academic and government sectors. The scope of activities in this area includes vehicles for space exploration, communication, tourism and national security. This trend is expected to increase nationwide, as there is already a government strategic refocus on space. While some universities are well positioned in the manufacturing side of these small satellites, there is an opportunity for students and faculty, at MSU of Denver, to engage in the multidisciplinary testing aspects of these vehicles. Stakeholders from such collaboration include the university, the industry, the faculty and the students as well as the community. In this paper, we describe the steps taken by the Metropolitan State University of Denver to engage the stakeholder’s community, the testing system breakdown into subsystems, and the overall testing environment for small satellites. The paper discusses the basic concepts of vibration testing, practices and equipment involved as well as the anticipated changes in the curriculum.