The CanSat is a miniature satellite payload that consists of a container and payload (attached to the container by a tether). The CanSat container has a compact Avionics Bay consisting of Pressure, Rotation & GPS sensors to collect accurate data. Our CanSat Team (Team Janus) finished 23rd globally out of the 50 teams that participated in the CanSat Tournament at Virginia Tech University, USA on 9th June 2022. The CanSat was launched to an altitude ranging from 670 to 725 meters above the launch site and deployed near apogee. Once the CanSat is deployed from the rocket, it descends using a parachute at a rate of 15 m/s. At 400 meters, a larger parachute was deployed to reduce the descent rate to 5 m/s. At 300 meters, the CanSat released a tethered payload to a distance of 10 meters in 20 seconds. During that time, the payload maintained the orientation of a video camera pointing in the south direction. The video camera, pointed 45 degrees downward, ensured that the terrain was in the video.
Apart from the modeling, designing, software development, sensor integration, and manufacturing, four tests were conducted to test the recovery system of the container, the release mechanism for releasing the CanSat from the container, construction quality, and material performance.