Project
Rapid

Student-led 3U CubeSat project empowering the next generation of space leaders.

Technical Specifications

Structure

3U (100x100x330mm) chassis made of 6061 Aluminum. Designed with 1U of space for the payload.

ADCS

Fully custom attitude determination and control system utilizing 4 reaction wheels and 3 magnetorquers.

Avionics

Boards designed in-house with 4 subsystems containing MCUs running our flight software developed from the ground up.

Electrical Power System

2s3p 18650 Li-ion pack powered by 4 fixed solar panels. Provides 3V3, 5V, and a 12V bus with 130W (28Wh) pulse capability.

Communications

Command and telemetry link operating through UHF communication at 432 MHz with a deployable bent dipole antenna.

Payload & Imaging

High-power 12V system designed for scientific research, and a camera leveraging our ADCS for observation.

Mission Timeline

April 2024

Beginnings

Through inspiration by a former partnership with a lab working on an ion thruster, we created the current idea, design, and plan for Project Rapid as it is now.

February 2025

Initial Design

Finished initial design of flight PCBs and manufactured first chassis prototype.

May 2025

Foundations of Flight Software

Finalized structuring of intersubsystem communication and developed foundational modules for testing and writing flight software.

August 2025

Initial Attitude Determination Software

Developed TRIAD algorithm for attitude estimation and an MEKF for noise reduction and propagation from the estimate.

January 2026

Reaction Wheel Control System

Created a PD controller for one reaction wheel in Simulink and implemented it in flight code.

By April 2026

Mission Simulations

Build and run robust simulations for various trajectories and conditions.

By April 2026

Final ADCS Simulink Model

Incorporate both the reaction wheel and magnetorquer control systems in a fully simulated ADCS.

By December 2026

Finish All ADCS Flight Software

Develop code to determine and control attitude through our custom algorithms and drivers.

By December 2027

Final Model Assembly

Integration of all PCBs and components with chassis.

By June 2028

Launch

Detumble, stabilize, and begin communication with ground.

June 2028+

Scientific Research

Collect data from our ground station and perform research and experiments.

Project Leadership

Alec

Project Manager

Ishan

Chief Engineer

Brandon

Electrical Lead

Vicky

Mechanical Lead

Vincent

Mechanical Lead

Connor

Operations Lead

Owen

Software Lead