Ensuring Mission Success: A PA-QA approach in the AIV-T of the ELECTRA CubeSat

ELECTRA - Electron Layer Exploration using CubeSat for TEC Research and Analysis is a 3U CubeSat mission, under development at Politecnico di Torino, by the CubeSat student team in collaboration with the Systems and Technologies for Aerospace Research Laboratory and the Navigation Signal Analysis and Simulation research groups. The ELECTRA mission will analyze and map the ionospheric Total Electron Content in LEO using dual-frequency GNSS signals, to provide insights into space weather phenomena, improving space weather forecasting and the resilience of satellite communications. Additionally, it will act as a demonstration for an innovative solid-state micro thruster, with precise orbit determination achieved through GNSS-based Kinematic Precise Orbit Determination. Taking into consideration the never-known propulsion system and the in-house development of the AOCS, the ELECTRA’s AIV-T plan has been carefully designed on a Product and Quality assurance philosophy scaled to academic standards. Design change traceability is established in the initial phases of the ELECTRA mission to ensure a robust verification process. Requirements verification is carried out through various model types at different mission stages, ensuring product traceability and following industry and agencies guidelines. This approach ensures students familiarize themselves with concepts such as equipment calibration, RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety) features and non-conformance control systems to guarantee mission consistency and system integrity. A FlatSat Model is used as it enables functional verification by interfacing each satellite component on a workbench, facilitating troubleshooting and subsystem testing. The educational aspect of the mission will be reinforced through hands-on training with the FlatSat Model, allowing students to gain experience in spacecraft subsystem integration and testing while learning Product and Quality Assurance (PA-QA) fundamental skills. This paper presents how PA-QA is included in the verification process to ensure that the ELECTRA spacecraft meets all specified requirements. The AIV-T approach integrates hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing, enhancing verification effectiveness. Additionally, the paper showcases the in-house development of the AOCS and the innovative propulsion system that will undergo rigorous validation using the FlatSat, Development Models and through targeted test campaigns to mitigate risks associated with their first-time flight.