SSS-2A: A 3U CubeSat Project for an In-Orbit Formation Flying Mission

The Student Small Satellite (SSS) project is an education and training program for university students to have hands-on experience on the satellite design, development, and implementation practice. It consists of 3 Micro/Nano satellites forming an in-orbit formation flying for technology demonstration and some in-orbit experiments. SSS-1 is a microsatellite of 30 kg mass, being developed by a consortium of 4 countries, with Beihang University as the lead, and being participated by teams from Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey. SSS-2A is a 3U CubeSat, being developed by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. And the SSS-2B is another 3U CubeSat, being developed by a team from Turkey, together with support from Thailand. This paper mainly introduces the SSS project and further presents the detailed system design and development of the SSS-2A CubeSat, including its main system constitution, main payload selection, and the latest development status and schedule. Technical details of each subsystem will also be discussed and analysed. Some simulation results will be given to show the design performance. It is going to be launched before the end of 2021.