Flagship research
Satellite Energy & Telemetry Intelligence
How a spacecraft generates, stores, consumes and reports energy through every orbit.
- Sun
- Solar Array
- EPS
- Battery
- Loads
- Solar
- 41.8 W
- Battery
- 98.3 %
- Load
- 22.0 W
- Margin
- +15.6 W
Can the satellite generate, store and manage enough energy to complete its mission safely?
- State
- Sunlight
- Solar
- 41.8 W
- Load
- 22.0 W
- Battery
- 98.4 %
- charging
- Margin
- +15.6 W
- surplus
- Link
- Contact
- downlink
6U reference case · simulated values, not flight data
Reference case and assumptions
- Spacecraft
- 6U Earth-observation CubeSat
- Orbit
- 550 km sun-synchronous orbit, β ≈ 20°
- Period
- 95.6 min · sunlight 61 min · eclipse 34.8 min
- Battery
- 2S4P Li-ion, 7.2 V nominal, 86 Wh
- Loads
- 22 W sunlight · 14 W eclipse (payload off)
- Efficiencies
- EPS 0.9 · charge 0.95
Battery state of charge, three orbits
- Sensors
- Onboard computer
- Radio
- Ground
| Parameter | Sunlight | Eclipse | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse state | SUNLIGHT | ECLIPSE | Orbit propagation, sun sensors |
| Solar generation | 41.8 W | 0.0 W | Array voltage and current sensors |
| Battery SOC | 91 % · rising | 89 % · end of eclipse | Coulomb counting with voltage correction |
| Battery voltage | 8.18 V | 8.03 V | Pack voltage sense |
| Battery current | +1.9 A · charging | −1.9 A · discharging | Shunt current sensor |
| Battery temperature | 17 °C | 6 °C · near 5 °C heater threshold | Thermistors on the pack |
| Bus voltage (5 V rail) | 5.01 V | 4.99 V | EPS rail monitors |
| Subsystem load | 22.0 W | 14.0 W · payload off | Per-channel EPS current sensing |
| Telemetry availability | 100 % frames logged | 100 % frames logged | Onboard housekeeping log |
| Sensor health | NOMINAL · all channels | NOMINAL · sun sensors masked | Sensor self-test, cross-checks |
| Orbit energy margin | +20.0 % | +20.0 % | Derived: energy-balance model |
Illustrative reference case · simulated values, not flight data.
- FaultSolar array
- EPS input
- Battery recharge
- Energy margin
Less generation every orbit. The battery no longer recovers fully, so SOC trends down orbit after orbit.
- 1Concept
- 2Research
- 2Simulation
- 0Prototype
- 1Experimental
- 0Validated
- 4Planned
- Research
System architecture
Energy and information paths, subsystem interfaces and the decision loop.
- Research
Reference case & equations
Orbit geometry, eclipse fraction, energy balance, depth of discharge and SOC, published here.
- Simulation
Orbit energy model
The simulation behind this page: sunlight and eclipse, loads, battery SOC and fault scenarios.
- Simulation
CubeTwin energy simulator (v0.01)
Educational prototype: solar generation, loads, battery SOC, voltage and temperature, CSV telemetry export. Open CubeTwin (opens in a new tab)
- Experimental
Fault experiments
Array degradation, stuck-on heater and sensor-fault scenarios.
- Concept
Requirements
Verifiable energy, telemetry and health requirements traced to the architecture.
- Planned
Battery SOH / RUL estimation
Degradation and remaining useful life from telemetry.
- Planned
Health classification
Context-aware nominal / warning / fault logic and anomaly detection.
- Planned
Hardware telemetry
Measured telemetry from an educational flatsat engineering model.
- Planned
Validation
Comparison of models and simulations against independent reference data.
Nothing here is production-ready or flight-qualified. No result is flight evidence.
Limitations and known gaps
- One reference case: no seasonal variation of β angle or eclipse duration.
- Array power is an orbit average; attitude and self-shadowing are not modelled.
- Loads are constant within each phase; ground-pass radio loads are not modelled.
- Battery capacity is fixed: no temperature dependence, ageing, SOH or RUL model yet.
- Nothing is yet calibrated against a physical test article or measured mission data.
Open research questions
- How does eclipse duration affect satellite battery SOC?
- How should loads be prioritised during low-energy conditions?
- How can telemetry identify early battery degradation?
- How should solar-generation uncertainty be represented?
- How can sensor anomalies be distinguished from true subsystem faults?
- How should mission energy margins be calculated?
- How can telemetry support safe-mode decisions?
Review, guide or contribute.
Research and collaboration enquiries are welcome from academia, industry and the global space ecosystem.