The payload thermo-mechanical design of the CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP), for space weather and solar flares X-ray polarimetry

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) is a CubeSat mission to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-rays band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP is a project in the framework of the Alcor Program of the Italian Space Agency aimed to develop new CubeSat missions. CUSP is approved for a Phase B study that will last for 12 month starting from the beginning of 2024. We report on the design solutions adopted for the most important design drivers of the payload. In particular, we report on the payload preliminary mechanical design (including the static and dynamic finite element analysis) and the preliminary thermo-mechanical analysis. Moreover, a topological optimization of the interface between the platform and the payload is discussed.