Development of an advanced nano-satellite VELOX-I – a micro-thruster system

Abstract

This report aims to research and improve on the Nanosatellite to achieve better attitude determination and control on the functioning satellite. This will improve the overall capabilities and the efficiency of the satellite in Plasma Pulse Thruster. The aim was to improve the efficiency of the overall system by 200%

Research was done on the control circuit to look for ways and methods to improve the control circuit. The first improvement was done on the components. It is required to meet the standard specifications of the circuit. Second improvement was done by implementing a step-up control circuit at the input of the system. Testing was done using wire wrapping. This helped to boost the efficiency by 50%. Last improvement was the implementation of a full wave multiplier block into the circuit. But the circuit proven to be too many components to be fabricated into the system.

The results of the report was to improve the efficiency to 150% instead of the originally intended of 200%. Further research is required to get the intended voltage efficiency of 200%