Gravity Gradient Exploration Satellite

The Gravity Gradient Exploration Satellite (GGEOS) is a single-unit CubeSat technology demonstration being developed by a group of four undergraduate aerospace engineering students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The mission is designed to validate a controlled, motor-driven, semi-rigid space-tether and deployment system. Space tethers offer significant potential for gravity gradient stabilization and propellant-less electrodynamic propulsion, however past missions have frequently failed due to rebound and tangling from their spring-based deployment systems and elastic tethers. GGEOS mitigates these challenges using a semi-rigid, tape-measure-like tether, deployed with a stepper-motor-driven extrusion system enabling slow, controlled deployment and reduced post-deployment problems. The spacecraft architecture utilizes an ESP32 as the onboard computer, an off-the-shelf Iridium communications module paired with a custom in-house antenna, and a simplified in-house electrical power system, allowing development on an accelerated timeline with an emphasis on low cost and system simplicity. The system is designed for a 400 km low Earth orbit with a planned three-month mission lifetime, during which it will validate tether deployment performance, demonstrate a successful communications link, and transmit data indicating passive gravity gradient stabilization following tether deployment.