Hyperspectral imaging has a variety of commercially important applications in Earth observation because of its advanced functionalities that enable precise material identification. This thesis presents the structural design and analysis of a 3U CubeSat carrying a hyperspectral imaging payload, as part of the Earth Moon Education CubeSats mission by EuroMoonMars. Due to its high resource demands, hyperspectral imaging requires an efficient design of the structural subsystem to accommodate the payload and other subsystem components, but publicly available research on this is extremely limited. A CAD model of the complete CubeSat was first designed in Autodesk Fusion based on requirements from the dispenser. For every design version, structural FE analyses were performed in ANSYS Workbench to ensure that the CubeSat withstands the vibrational loads from the launch vehicle and the thermoelastic response from the thermal loads in orbit. After simplifying the geometry of the CAD model to reduce the computational effort, and applying appropriate loads and constraints, the analyses were run on a multi-core processor. The design of the CubeSat was finalised when the FE analyses resulted in positive margins of safety against yielding. Sensitivity analyses on uncertain parameters were conducted in optiSLang, and the results of these will be used for validating and updating the FE analyses, to be carried out in the next phase of the mission by testing a physical model of the CubeSat in dedicated setups.

This thesis presents the structural and thermal design of a CubeSat-based rover system for lunar surface exploration, developed with standard 3U CubeSat as foundation. The study focuses on the integration of a mobility platform, capable of being deployed from a lunar lander, on to the 3U CubeSat. Detailed finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to ensure structural survivability under launch conditions, including quasi-static, random vibration, and shock loads. The first natural frequency was found to be 267 Hz, exceeding the 115 Hz threshold across major spacecraft launchers. Maximum von Mises stress reached 300 MPa under the worst-case shock loading, yielding a minimum margin of safety of 0.10. Thermal analysis using passive insulation strategies demonstrated that all subsystem components remained within -20°C to +65°C under lunar surface conditions. Mobility performance was validated through terramechanics modelling and field testing on Earth's sandy terrain, where the prototype exhibited static and dynamic sinkage within 11‰ and 9‰ of analytical predictions, respectively. These results demonstrate that with appropriate design strategies and material selection, a CubeSat-Based Rover configuration can be feasibly integrated within a 3U CubeSat. While further studies—such as radiation tolerance, dust mitigation, lunar analogue terrain testing, and structural testing—are required, the findings highlight the potential of this architecture as a standardized, low-cost platform for short-duration lunar surface missions.
Dataset: https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:6bd1d545-e071-4f7b-a457-e213909b878f