KickSat-2 Deployment Test

Here’s a test of the new deployment mechanism on KickSat-2, which was developed to meet more stringent safety requirements. On KickSat-1, the mechanism was triggered by a single burn wire. On KickSat-2, we have two “inhibits” triggered by two independent burn wire circuits. The primary inhibit is a nylon screw that is threaded through the entire assembly. The secondary inhibit is a monofilament tie-down that is secured to the main spacecraft structure. Both the primary and secondary inhibits must be cut in order to trigger deployment. During the mission, the secondary tie-down would be cut first, followed by the primary. The following video shows the opposite - the nylon screw is cut first, followed by the tie-down - to demonstrate that everything works as it should.