Aerospace Mechanics

Aerospace Mechanics

Investigating Dynamics of the Cubesat Inside the P-Pod Considering Affecting Parameters

Document Type : Dynamics, Vibrations, and Control

Authors
Arezoo Esmaeili 1
Moharram Shameli 2
Seyed Tohid Khandani Kuzehkonan 2
Gholamreza Hashemi 3
1 PhD Student, Iranian Space Research Institute, Tabriz, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Iranian Space Research Center, Tabriz, Iran
3 Master's Degree, Iranian Space Research Center, Tabriz, Iran
10.47176/MAJ.2026.1557
Abstract
In order to meet the requirements of cubic satellite missions, it is necessary to study and investigate the motion of the cube-sat inside the P-pod and its separation velocity. In this paper, the movement of a CubeSat inside the P-POD until the complete departure has been investigated using analytical modeling. Due to the performance of P-Pod in weightless conditions, the motion of CubeSat is studied in two conditions namely, with and without gravitational acceleration. For this purpose, the motion of the desired system is modeled using dynamic equations, and then the effect of gravity, the position of the center of mass (CG), the coefficient of friction and gap between the wall of the cube set and the P-pod on the angular velocity and the linear velocity of the 3U cube-sat has been analyzed in the direction of its motion and at the departure. Then, the P-Pod mechanism was manufactured along with the cube-set and an experimental test was conducted to validate the analytical modeling. The results show an acceptable agreement between the analytical modeling results and the experimental ones. It was observed that the increase in the deviation from the CG in the direction perpendicular to the motion, the decrease in the deviation from the CG in the direction of the cube-sat motion and the increase in the deviation from the CG to pusher plate in the direction of the cube-sat motion increase the angular velocity and decrease the output linear velocity. In addition, decreasing the friction coefficient and increasing the gap between the cube-sat wall and P-pod has led to an increase in the angular velocity and linear velocity of the cube-sat. Moreover, the gravitational acceleration results in increasing the linear velocity and decreasing the angular velocity.

Graphical Abstract

Investigating Dynamics of the Cubesat Inside the P-Pod Considering Affecting Parameters
Keywords
Analytical Modeling Cubesat P
Pod Mechanism Angular Velocity Gravity Acceleration
Subjects


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  • Receive Date 08 April 2026
  • Revise Date 27 May 2026
  • Accept Date 18 June 2026
  • Publish Date 04 July 2026