Environmental testing of CanX-2 and integration of optical systems with the CanX Generic Nanosatellite Bus

This thesis describes the author's twofold work at Space Flight Laboratory. The first half discusses the implementation and the results of the Long Form Functional Testing of the CanX-2 nanosatellite. The LFFT was designed by the author and used for testing and verification of the satellite's functionality both during initial integration and during a rigorous testing regime under expected orbital thermal and vacuum conditions. The second half discusses the development of optical systems for the CanX satellites designed around the Generic Nanosatellite Bus. The first optical system discussed is the BRITE Photometer. Detail is given on the selection process for the imager, the testing procedure for the imager, and the eventual selection of the Kodak KAI-11002 CCD. The second optical system discussed is the design and prototyping of the colour optical camera designed to be flown on all GNB derived missions.