Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Dec.11.2018

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. about student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** How Beanie Babies helped UNCW reach space – WRAL.com

On Tuesday, December 4, UNC Wilmington successfully launched their 3U CubeSat, about the size of a loaf of bread, Seahawk-1, along with 48 other CubeSats aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Seahawk-1 is now in a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit studying oceans via the HawkEye Ocean Color Imager. Study of ocean color assists the better understanding everything from plankton populations to the degradation of coral reefs to the effects of El Niño. The sun-synchronous orbit allows researchers to monitor day to day changes, imaging a swath of ocean 230 km wide down to a resolution of 120m wide.

“Landsat ocean color images traditionally cost about $1,000 each, and UNCW’s will be free to everybody.” said UNCW Center for Marine Science Professor John M. Morrison. “The data collected will improve our ability to monitor coastal environments where anthropogenic stresses like ‘red tides’ are often most acute

** Project DaVinci cube satellite to launch on Wednesday – The Coeur d’Alene Press

A team of North Idaho STEM Charter Academy students is about to land among the stars.

While the rest of the world is counting down to a new year, the Project DaVinci team is counting down to 8 p.m. Wednesday, when the cube satellite (CubeSat) the students have been working on for two years will launch into space on an electron rocket from a Rocket Lab ground station in New Zealand.

“It’s finally becoming reality,” project co-lead and ground communications lead Samantha Schroeder, a freshman, said during a team meeting at the school. “It’s very exciting.”

** USI student-built UNITE CubeSAT successfully launched, en route to International Space Station – University of Southern Indiana

After years of planning, construction and testing, the UNITE CubeSAT, a small research satellite designed and built entirely by USI undergraduate students under the direction of Dr. Glenn Kissel, associate professor of engineering, was launched into space on Wednesday, December 5 aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship bound for the International Space Station. When it is launched from the ISS in 2019, it will be the first deployed satellite created by an Indiana higher education institution.

** Jordan launches first cube satellite JY1 – SatellitePro ME

The satellite was designed and built by 18 engineering students, with support from five academics and consultants, in various engineering fields, from Jordanian universities.

The CPF [Crown Prince Foundation] said the Masar team will launch a mobile application that will enable users to track the Jordanian mini satellite and communicate with it.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-343 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin