Structural analyses for the Alba CubeSat mission

Structural analyses for satellites are crucial to the success of space missions. These analyses ensure that the satellite can endure launch loads and arrive at its designated orbit in optimal conditions to effectively carry out its mission. This thesis focuses on the structural analyses performed for the Alba CubeSat project from the University of Padova, during the first edition of the European Space Agency (ESA) Fly Your Satellite! - Design Booster programme, and in the following months. The first chapter will introduce CubeSat, the importance of structural analyses and a brief description of the Alba CubeSat project. In the second chapter, a review of the structure component choosen and of the CAD assembly will be presented. The third chapter will outline the Finite Element Method (FEM) model used for simulations, and some model checks. The structural analyses performed will be reported in the fourth chapter. Finally, in the fifth chapter there will be a summary of the main results, and discussion about future work that will need to be done.