Structural Design of 3D Printed Spacecraft – ARTSAT2: DESPATCH

Abstract

DESPATCH (DEep SPace Amateur Troubadour's CHallenge) is the second spacecraft in the Art and Satellite (ARTSAT) project. The size of the DESPATCH is 50×50×50 cm and the total mass is about 33 kg. DESPATCH consists of a sculpture (made by 3D printer) and other structural elements made of aluminum. The mass of this sculpture is about 15 kg and it occupies half of the mass of the spacecraft. DESPATCH's technical and structural mission is to verify the utility of 3D-printed spacecraft. After one year of development, DESPATCH was launched into an Earth escape trajectory on December 3, 2014, along with the Hayabusa-2 asteroid probe. In this paper, the development of DESPATCH is described, as well as the structural design, vibration test, and structural analysis.