METUCUBE: A 3U CUBESAT FOR DISASTER MONITORING AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEMSYunus Emre Ozdemir, Ibrahim Doga Ergin, Burak Toy, Celal Gunduz, Yasin Gungor, Mehmet Ilbagi, Elif Irmak Kaynar, Fatma Ipek Olmez, Alper Guvercin, Gulce Tuzcu, Abdurrahim Muratoglu and H. Ersin Soken This paper presents the design methodology and development experience of METUCube, a 3U CubeSat mission that integrates multispectral and thermal imaging payloads within strict volume and power constraints. The satellite is designed for post-disaster monitoring and early warning applications, with additional capabilities for environmental observation of agricultural areas and water resources. Key challenges include payload integration, power management, thermal regulation, and pointing stability, which were addressed through trade-off analyses and in-house component design. METUCube is planned to operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 500 km altitude with a mission lifetime of about three years, and the Engineering Model is scheduled for completion by early 2026. The lessons learned from this effort provide valuable guidance for future CubeSat missions requiring compact, multi-payload configurations. |