Development of a Launch Mechanism for Small Satellites Using Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process

The deployment of CubeSats requires reliable, lightweight, and space-efficient launch mechanisms. Traditional spring-based deployers often rely on standard off-the-shelf components, limiting the design flexibility. This study presents a pilot design-to-verification workflow for a CubeSat deployment mechanism manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion from 316L stainless steel. The workflow integrates analytical sizing, kinematic and numerical force assessment, FEM-based LPBF process simulation employed as a design-support tool to predict thermal displacements and residual stress that occur during manufacturing, prototype manufacturing and optical inspection. Optical scanning indicated that the main envelope dimensions remained close to the nominal CAD values, while the support-plate warping was localized at the plate corners due to the residual thermal stress after the support removal. The study validates the manufacturability of a single LPBF orbital-deployer lunch mechanism and assesses its dimensional accuracy and workflow feasibility, rather than its functional mechanical performance. It also includes mitigation strategies for deployer distortions.