Design, manufacturing and qualification of an ejection system for small satellites

Abstract: The Bistable Boom Dynamic Deployment (B2D2) experiment aims to demonstrate the deployment of a two-meter self-deployable boom in order to conduct high quality magnetic field measurements. The boom will be placed in a Free Falling Unit, ejected from a sounding rocket launched within the REXUS programme. In this thesis the design of the ejection system is presented. The design is based on that of TUPEX, an experiment realized from TU Berlin university in 2018. The ejection system is based on two set of springs, one to eject the hatch and another to eject the Free Falling Unit. Two decoupled retention systems, consisting of stainless steel cables, keep the components restrained during all mission phases until ejection. The methods, assumptions and considerations applied in the sizing of springs and cables, and the respective results are presented. Finally, the prototype manufacturing and testing phases are also described showing the realisation and qualification of the ejection system.