A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Alabama university student-led CubeSat project to study radiation shielding properties of lunar regolith: ASGC cube satellite would explore using lunar soil as human radiation shield – Univ. Alabama at Huntsville

Science aboard an Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) student-led cube satellite mission called AEGIS could be valuable to developing future human outposts on the moon and in space travel to Mars if NASA gives the go-ahead for a 2022 flight.

Based at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), ASGC member universities are Alabama A&M University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAH and the University of South Alabama, and all are involved in AEGIS.

An experiment to test the radiation-shielding properties of simulated lunar soil, or regolith, is aboard the AEGIS CubeSat under development. The science is important to future lunar colonies because transporting shielding materials to the moon will be expensive, says Dr. Michael Briggs, assistant director of UAH’s Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) and a principle research scientist who is advising the AEGIS science mission.

“In contrast, lunar regolith will be readily available,” he says. “Calculations show that lunar regolith will work well as a shield and NASA is studying its use as a construction material. Our goal is to improve our knowledge of its radiation shielding capacity.”

Future Mars missions could benefit from spacecraft that use lunar regolith as shielding.

“Since the lunar gravity is weaker than the Earth’s,” Dr. Briggs says, “it could be easier to use lunar material for radiation shielding for a spaceflight to Mars.”

ASGC’s 6U CubeSat measures slightly smaller than 4x8x12 inches. The craft will achieve an egg-shaped cislunar orbit that will swing it out from the Earth toward the moon and then back to Earth again.

“It is crucial to test the shielding in a radiation environment equivalent to what astronauts will be exposed to on the surface of the moon or while traveling to Mars,” Dr. Briggs says.

AEGIS mission is funded by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). Over 120 students from Alabama colleges will be involved. The spacecraft will be launched into a high earth orbit as a secondary payload on a SLS mission as early as 2021 or 2022.

For more details about AEGIS, ee the paper The Alabama Experiment on Galactic-Ray In-Situ Shielding (AEGIS) Project: A Multi-University 6U CubeSat for Radiation Shielding Analysis and Workforce Development. J. Fuchs & M. Halvorson, (pdf).

**  Michigan Technological University sending second student built satellite to ISS. The Stratus CubeSat will be deployed in March 2021.

Stratus vehicle is a three-axis-stabilized thermal infrared telescope that will be used to image atmospheric clouds. Using asynchronous stereo image processing, the data from Stratus will provide Cloud Fraction, Cloud Top Wind, and Cloud Top Height information that can be used to reconcile climate models. If successful, a number of inexpensive Stratus spacecraft could be deployed in the future to gather hyper-local weather data.

The first MTU project,  Oculus-ASR, was deployed last summer: And Then There Were Two: MTU’s Next Student-built Satellite Set to Launch in 2021 | Michigan Technological University News

Once successfully deployed, Stratus will be the University’s second orbiting nanosatellite. The first, Oculus-ASR, was launched from Cape Canaveral in June 2019. Another satellite, Auris, designed to monitor communications emissions from geostationary satellites, has cleared system concept review in the design and development phase of the Air Force Research Lab University Nanosatellite Program (AFRL UNP). 

Bill Predebon, J.S. Endowed Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics in the College of Engineering, welcomed the news of a second satellite launch with praise for King and Aerospace Enterprise team members. “It is amazing that Michigan Tech will have a second student-built satellite in space next year.”

Development of Stratus has been slowed by the Coronavirus shutdowns but work will soon resume.

… Michigan Tech Aerospace Team Program Manager Troy Maust, a fourth-year computer engineering major, has been working on the CubeSat project for about a year. 

“This mission has been in the works for much longer,” he said. “As with Oculus, I estimate more than 200 students and alumni have been part of this mission; it wouldn’t be possible without them. I am delighted to see these years of hard work pay off.”

The 10-by-10-by-30-centimeter, 4.4-kilogram Stratus CubeSat is considerably smaller than the 70-kilogram Oculus-ASR, a microsat which measures 50-by-50-by-80 centimeters. But both, as well as Auris, are classed in the broader category of nanosatellites, the craft that represent an important development in space industry trends. 

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects:

**** ANS-124 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• New AMSAT Membership Portal Launched, March/April 2020 Edition of The AMSAT Journal Now Available
• AMSAT President Hails Launch of Wild Apricot Membership Portal
• Call for Nominations – 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election
• RS-44 Transponder Now Active
• Virginia Tech Camera on AO-92 Takes Stunning Photos, Additional Passes Planned Tuesday, May 5th
• Redesigned AMSAT CubeSat Simulator Launched
• Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for April 30, 2020
• FCC Adopts Updated Orbital Debris Mitigation Rules
• VUCC Awards-Endorsements for April 2020
• Space Apps COVID-19 Challenge Virtual Hackathon, May 30-31
• On-Line Student STEM: TI Codes Contest 2020
• First Guatemalan Satellite Deployed from the ISS
• Former AMSAT Area Coordinator, Prominent DXer Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ, SK
• During the COVID-19 Pandemic, ARISS to Begin Experimental Demonstrations of School Contacts using a Multipoint Telebridge Amateur Radio Approach
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

**** ANS-131 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• 2019 Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal on launch.amsat.org
• Call for Nominations – 2020 AMSAT Board of Directors Election
• New Chinese Amateur Satellites Expected to Launch in September
• Cubesat Developers Workshop Presentations Available
• Visual Observations Of RS-44 Underway
• Hack-a-Sat Call for Participation
• NASA TV To Air Cygnus Departure From Space Station
• Online Amateur Radio Satellite Talk on Zoom
• Satellite Distance Records Set
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over
• [Update: ANS-131b Special Bulletin: HuskySat-1 Transponder is Open]

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Resources:
  • SmallSat Conference 2020  will be a free online event this year, August 1-6.
  • Quantum random number generators to enhance encryption of satellite data | eeNews Europe
• Projects:
  • Successful Deployment of First Guatemala Satellite, Selected as the Second Round of KiboCUBE Programme – JAXA – More about this project in previous roundup.
  • Ten New Pictures from LightSail 2 | The Planetary Society
  • NASA CubeSat Mission to Gather Vital Space Weather Data | NASA
  • China tests 3D printing in space for first time – ecnns.cn
  • Solar-sailing sentries could allow up-close study of interstellar visitors like ‘Oumuamua | Space.com
  • NASA CubeSat mission to gather vital space weather data – EurekAlert! / NASA Goddard
  • Space: Elusive Enigma Flies Again – Strategy Page – Upcoming X-37B mission will carry 10 CubeSats
  • Australia probes into space with CubeSats – Shephard Media

** Benoit Chamot – CubeSat Attitude Control: ADCS from CubeSpace – Cold Star Project S02E34

Head of Sales & Marketing for CubeSpace Benoit Chamot is on the Cold Star Project, and with host Jason Kanigan we’re looking at attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) for satellites. We discuss:
– how Benoit earned Masters degrees from both Lausanne and MIT, and the projects involved
– the critical ADCS system for satellites, and the components they’re made of such as sun sensors, reaction wheels, PCBs
– why CubeSpace chose to focus on reaction wheels, designing and manufacturing their own CubeWheel product
– why the company encourages South African space industry and opportunities for young engineers

CubeSpace website: https://www.cubespace.co.za/

** CubeSat – YouTube: Now includes several videos of presentations at the recent 2020 CubeSat Developers Workshop such as, A Standard Micro Propulsion System for CubeSats, by Joe Cardin, Chris Day (VACCO Industries):

** The AMSAT CubeSatSim – The CubeSat Simulator Project Page

This video shows the new AMSAT CubeSatSim, a low cost functional model of a 1U CubeSat nanosatelite. The video shows the boards and frame in the new version and the use of FoxTelem software to decode telemetry.

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A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Quetzal-1 CubeSat, developed at the University del Valle de Guatemala, was deployed into orbit from the ISS yesterday.  The project was sponsored by  KiboCUBE, a collaboration of the Japanese space program JAXA and United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Guatemala launches Quetzal-1 cube satellite through UNOOSA and JAXA KiboCUBE programme – Univ. Vienna .

The satellite – Quetzal-1 – is Guatemala’s first and will unlock new possibilities for the country and help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The primary objective of the mission is to test a multispectral sensor to acquire remote sensing data for natural resource management. The sensor could be used to monitor water quality in inland water bodies, helping to achieve SDG Goal 6 – clean water and sanitation.

The project supports SDG Goal 9 – industry, innovation and infrastructure – helping Guatemala develop its capacities in aerospace engineering and sparking innovations, such as the sensor created for the satellite. Women were an integral part of the winning team that engineered the satellite, contributing to SDG Goal 5 – gender equality.

The project has been made possible thanks to the strong collaboration of several entities: UNOOSA, JAXA, UVG, the UK Space Agency, the University of Colorado, the University of Chile, TEC Costa Rica, and the University of Würzburg among others. This is in line with SDG 17, partnership for the goals: international collaboration can unlock new frontiers in leveraging space for development.

The KiboCUBE programme offers the opportunity for institutions from developing countries to develop a cube satellite to be deployed from the ISS Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo). The programme, which recently completed its fifth round, enabled Kenya to deploy their first satellite in 2018, 1KUNS-PF, developed by a team from the University of Nairobi.

Views of the deployment:

[#GuateVaAlEspacio] ¡Día histórico para Guatemala! El #Quetzal1 ya está en su órbita enviando señales desde el espacio a la estación en Tierra de la Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. ► https://t.co/zZMP4b3Wdg pic.twitter.com/tRu6CVv7KU

— Guatevisión (@Guatevision_tv) April 29, 2020

Updates and further info about the project:

• Quetzal-1 CubeSat (@quetzal1_uvg) / Twitter
• QUETZAL-1 – Grafana – Dashboard display
• GitHub – danalvarez/gr-quetzal1: …. the UHF specifications for Quetzal-1…

** Berkeley student-built QubeSat to test quantum gyroscope in orbit. The CubeSat project was selected by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative for launch in 2021: Students’ shoebox-sized satellite gets green light for launch | Berkeley News

“The NASA grant is just for the launch, so we have still got to supply and manufacture the satellite ourselves,” said [Paul] Kӧttering, a junior majoring in applied mathematics and physics. “Luckily, the cost of CubeSats has dropped significantly over the past three to four years. The communications systems, power systems, control systems — a lot of those are just off-the-shelf, commercial parts, so they are quite cheap. The payload itself is the more expensive item, but again, a lot of that comes from in-kind donations from companies.”

Called QubeSat, or quantum CubeSat, the group’s satellite will test a new type of gyroscope based on quantum mechanical interactions in imperfect diamonds. The diamond gyroscope was invented in the UC Berkeley laboratory of physicist Dmitry Budker, a Professor of the Graduate School who is now also at the Helmholtz Institute at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.

The student team is part of an undergraduate aerospace club called Space Technologies at Cal (STAC) that has already flown experiments aboard balloons and the International Space Station — an impressive record for a group that started only four years ago. Some of the group’s graduates have gone on to work for SpaceX, Boeing and other aerospace companies.

Boasting about 65 members from a range of majors, including physics, math, engineering, chemistry and environmental sciences, they’re currently working on four projects they hope will push innovative new space technologies.

** Washington State University student-built CougSat-1 will study plant germination in microgravity. The Cougs in Space student organization is developing the CubeSat, the first for WSU to go to space. Cougs in Space prepare satellite – The Daily Evergreen

Teams from Cougs in Space are working together to build a satellite that will be launched from the International Space Station by this October. 

Mathew Bauer, junior computer science major and president of Cougs in Space, said the satellite is a 10-centimeter cube, or “CubeSat.” It will contain cameras to monitor conditions and pea seeds germinating, which means growing in an internal chamber. 

“The germination of pea seeds, the germination of seeds in general, is something that has never really been done outside of the International Space Station,” Bauer said. “They’ve never seen how seeds react in space.”

Bauer said Cougs in Space has been building the satellite for about one and a half to two years.

There are many teams responsible for different parts of the satellite, he said. The structure team builds the body of the satellite, the payload team is responsible for the pea seeds and the germination chamber and the communication team will receive data from the satellite when it is in space. Other teams are responsible for electrical systems, computing and controls, among other functions.

CougSat-1 will got to the ISS aboard a Cargo Dragon this fall and be deployed into orbit via Nanoracks.

Find updates at Cougs in Space (@cougsinspace) / Twitter

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-117 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• March/April 2020 Edition of Apogee View Posted
• Long-Lost U.S. Military Satellite Found By Amateur Radio Operator
  • [‘Zombie’ Satellite Found By Amateur Radio Operator On COVID-19 Lockdown – NPR]
• Let’s Take Some Pictures
• Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
• The W4AMI Award and How to Obtain One
• New OSCAR T-Shirt Available from AMSAT Zazzle Store
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Resources:
  • AM nanosatellite fuel tank design could be ‘game changer’ – AMRC
  • AI to boost Earth observations onboard cubesats – EENewsEurope.com
• Projects:
  • Farewell To nSight – The RockStar CubeSat – Space in Africa
  • NASA CubeSat Will Shine a Laser Light on the Moon’s Darkest Craters | NASA
  • Lunar Flashlight: Illuminating the Lunar South Pole – IEEE Journals & Magazine

** Terran Space Technologies presentation at NewSpace Pitch in Singapore last year: Singapore’s Infinite Orbits wins NewSpace Pitch at APSCC2019 | SpaceTech Asia

** Polaris: Machine Learning for Satellites:

A presentation on Polaris (https://polarisml.space), an open source Python project to apply machine learning to satellite telemetry. This presentation was supposed to be given at the 2020 Cubesat Developer’s Workshop (https://www.cubesat.org/workshop-info… the workshop was cancelled because of COVID-19, but the organizers have allowed us to record our presentations for the archive. Links: – The Polaris project can be found here: https://polarisml.space – The slides for this presentation can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H4UF… – The demo shown in this video can be found here: https://deepchaos.spac

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A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Mexico university students to build CubeSat in collaboration with NanoAvionics and the Mexian Space Agency: NanoAvionics and Mexican Space Agency Introduce a Nanosatellite Pilot Project for Future Space Missions | NanoAvionics

Nanosatellite manufacturer and mission integrator NanoAvionics, together with the Mexican Space Agency (AEM) and students from the Polytechnic University of Atlacomulco will develop the first nanosatellite for the State of Mexico, (one of most important states of the country), the AtlaCom-1. Building the nanosatellite is part of a pilot project to establish a nanosatellite infrastructure for future space missions designed and built by Mexico’s youth.

The project, starting in September 2020, is a testimony to the importance of space applications enabled by nanosatellites, which are rapidly becoming essential to national economies. Together, the Mexican Space Agency, led by Dr. Salvador Landeros, appointed director general of AEM in 2019, and NanoAvionics are fostering the advanced skills that Mexican youth will need to bring the country’s space industry forward.

…

NanoAvionics’ engineers will share their space mission experience and help the students and faculty at the Polytechnic University of Atlacomulco to develop the ATLA-1. The company’s multi-purpose nanosatellite buses are pre-configured and pre-qualified, allowing mission teams to focus on their payloads. As a result, technology development missions can produce results quicker and satellite constellations can enter commercial service much faster. The project is further supported by the Mayor of Atlacomulco, Roberto Téllez-Monroy, an engineer with a passion for space technology.

** AzTechSat-1 was the first Mexican university student built CubeSat to reach orbit. See the posting here from last December about the project and a February post about the deployment of the satellite from the ISS.

The AzTechSat-1 mission is led by the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, or UPAEP, in Puebla, Mexico. It is providing students and professors an opportunity to lead and participate in their first spaceflight mission. The multidisciplinary team of students at UPAEP was mentored by engineers and project managers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. They learned to use NASA methodologies for spaceflight project management and systems engineering. The students designed, built, tested and delivered a flight-certified CubeSat.

Communications were establish with AzTechSat-1 after its deployment. The primary mission for the satellite is to demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications by contacting a GlobalStar satellite.

• What is AzTechSat-1? | NASA
• Mexican Students Launch a Small Satellite to the Space Station | NASA
• UPAEP | AzTechSat-1
• AxTechSat-1 Mission Operations
• AxTechSat-1: IARU Sat Coordinator
• JA0CAW on Twitter: “GE ALL AztechSat-1 9K6 Telemetry over Japan @AzTechSat1 #cubesats https://t.co/j6NWoN5taO” / Twitter

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-110AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• ARRL, AMSAT Seek Changes in FCC Orbital Debris Mitigation Proposals
• House Committee Leaders Request FCC Delay Rulemaking on Space Debris
• 3D Printed Cubesat Simulator Frame Design Posted
• New OSCAR T-Shirt Available from AMSAT Zazzle Store
• Receiving SMOG-P and ATL-1 Nano Satellites With an RTL-SDR
• Commercial Blogs Feature Introductions to Satellite Operations
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Resources:
  • CubeSat Communications: Recent Advances and Future Challenges,  Nasir Saeed et al, IEEE
  • Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet | NASA – System of smallsats would take advantage of the solar gravitational lens (SGL) effect to form images of a distant exoplanet.
• Projects:
  • [ Update:
    • ThinSat pushes students to reach for the stars | STEMx
    • Ghana Grows Its Space Economy – ModernGhana.com – Mentions GhanaSat-1 CubeSat currently operating in orbit.
    • “Nanocardboard” picosats:
      • Penn Engineers’ ‘Nanocardboard’ Flyers Could Serve as Martian Atmospheric Probes – Medium.com
      • A new way to fly, built up from the nanoscale | Penn Today ]
  • The QUBIK Project: The progress so far – Libre Space Foundation
  • NanoAvionics to build two signal-mapping cubesats for Dutch-Norwegian program – SpaceNews.co
  • Millennium Space delivers smallsat for upcoming U.S. Space Force rideshare mission – SpaceNews.com

** Low cost CubeSat design:

Why are CubeSats / Cube Satellites so expensive? Entry level 1U satellites for basic science missions often cost at least $10 or $20K, and I figure that they shouldn’t, given how cheap consumer electronics are. 2U / 3U and above satellites are even more expensive, not to mention the much much larger launch cost. Is the high cost justified by the unique operating environment and market demand for CubeSats?

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A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** A review of the Virginia Cubesat Constellation program in which a consortium of universities in the state built three cubesats:  Virginia Cubesat Constellation, Mike McPherson, KQ9P

A report about the launch of the cubesats to the ISS: UVA-Built Nano-Spacecraft is Launched Into Space | UVA Today

The three spacecraft were deployed into orbit from the ISS on July 3, 2019.

Unfortunately,  communications were only established with one of the three spacecraft. In the above video, McPherson discusses the communications problems.

** Staten Longo – I Am NASA Virginia Space Grant – Participation in the Virginia CubeSat program led to a career in aerospace

Staten Longo, graduate of the University of Virginia, participated in the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program as a high school student and then served as a program manager for the Virginia Cubesat Constellation project. This ‘I am NASA Space Grant’ video

** A CubeSat overview from Fiske Planetarium:

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-082 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• ARISS Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• New TQSL Version Provides Better LoTW Rover Support
• AMSAT-EA Registering SanoSat-1 for AMSAT Nepal
• ESA and LibreSpace Report: SDR’s for Small Satellites
• Brazil Holds 430 and 1240 MHz Hearing
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Exolaunch signs agreement with SpaceX for launch of small satellites on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission – Exolaunch – “Exolaunch, a German rideshare launch and deployment solutions provider, signed a Launch Services Agreement with SpaceX to launch small satellites on a Falcon 9 as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program. Under the launch contract, Exolaunch accommodates multiple microsatellites and cubesats on the first Falcon 9 smallsat-dedicated rideshare mission to sun-synchronous orbit, targeted for launch in December 2020.

  Exolaunch will provide comprehensive rideshare mission management, deployment and integration services for its customers participating in this launch. Core customers who signed up for this launch through Exolaunch’s services will be announced in the coming weeks.”

• In Response to Covid-19, Space Dynamics Lab Satellite Operators “Fly” Small Satellites from Home – Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL)/ Utah State Univ.  – “NASA’s Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter CubeSat and the Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space instrument small satellite, known as HARP and CIRiS respectively, are two science satellites that are now being commanded by SDL satellite operators outside of SDL facilities.”

** Cubesats, Hubble and Apollo 13 Trouble | Podcasts | Naked Scientists

Space Boffins Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson celebrate Hubble’s 30th birthday with Shuttle astronaut Kathy Sullivan, whose mission deployed the space telescope, and hear from NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill about his warning alarm system for Apollo 13, celebrating its 50th lucky escape anniversary. The Space Boffins also meet Craig Clark, founder of AAC Clyde Space, and are shown around the cubesat pioneer’s HQ in Glasgow. All this with bonus space-themed added music….

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A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Cubesat program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, wins grants from NASA lunar exploration technology program: NASA Small Satellite Program Selects Cal Poly to Help Develop New Technology for Lunar Exploration Missions – Cal Poly News

Cal Poly will participate in a pair of two-year projects, both in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The grants are valued at $200,000. The first, under the SmallSat Propulsion for Lunar Missions area, will team Cal Poly with UC Irvine for a project titled “Variable Specific Impulse Electrospray Thrusters for SmallSat Propulsion.”

The project will build on existing propulsion technology that uses electrostatic charges to propel liquid droplets to generate thrust. It will further develop and test a more-versatile system capable of operating in either a high-thrust mode when needed, or more efficient low-thrust mode to conserve fuel and save weight. This technology will add mission flexibility to electrospray propulsion systems while keeping within the size suited constraints of small spacecraft.

“Cal Poly will be providing a design for a CubeSat to test the thrusters, including an electrical subsystem that is capable of powering the thrusters,” Bellardo said. “UCI will be focusing more on the thruster side. Cal Poly will be focused on the spacecraft side.”

The second proposal, under NASA’s Advanced Electrical Power Subsystem and Thermal Management Technology area, pairs Cal Poly with Cal State Los Angeles for a project titled “An Additively Manufactured Deployable Radiator with Oscillating Heat Pipes to Enable High Power Lunar CubeSats.”

Compact CubeSats do not efficiently dissipate heat, yet lunar missions will demand even more electrical power, which produces heat as a byproduct that could damage core components of a small satellite. The equipment needed for longer duration missions far from Earth orbit includes more powerful radio transmitters while simultaneously dealing with the harsh cislunar thermal environment. The grant will fund the development of a deployable radiator with flexible oscillating heat pipes to provide more efficient heat transfer than traditional thermal straps.

“The more power a spacecraft needs, the more heat gets generated — both during power generation and consumption,” Bellardo said. “Radiators are part of the solution to keeping the spacecraft cooler. The technology is applicable to other small spacecraft as well.”

More about the Cal Poly projects and about lunar technology projects at other universities selected by NASA: NASA Selects Universities for Collaborative Development | NASA.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-096 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• Ham Radio Book Featured in “Story Time From Space” on ISS
• NO-104 / PSAT2 Status
• VUCC Standings for April 2020
• AMSAT Awards During Stay-at-Home Orders
• Radio Amateurs of Canada Offers New Online Amateur Radio Course
• AMSAT South Africa Reports Good Progress with AfriCUBE
• ARISS News
• Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Resources:
  • Accion Systems — A New Ion Engine
    • Accion raises $11 million to refine its dime-size spacecraft thrusters | Space.com
  • Sinclair Interplanetary
    • Sinclair Interplanetary chooses a path to growth – SpaceQ
• Projects:
  • New NASA Radar Looks to Monitor Volcanoes and Earthquakes from Space | NASA
    • SRI CubeSat Imaging Radar for Earth Science (SRI-CIRES): Initial UAS Integration and Flight Demonstrations (pdf)
    • SRI International Demonstrates Interferometric SAR with Radar Designed for CubeSat Form Factor – SRI
  • Swarm Technologies  picosat constellation

** Exploring CubeSats! – MIT Full STEAM Ahead

** SunRISE – NASA’s new mission to study giant space weather storms – Your Space Journey

NASA has just selected a new mission to study how the Sun generates and releases giant space weather storms into space. The new mission is called SunRISE, which stands for Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment. This mission will ultimately help protect astronauts traveling to the Moon and Mars by providing better information on how the Sun’s radiation affects the space environment they must travel through. The principal investigator of SunRISE, Dr. Justin Kasper, joins us to discuss this incredible mission. Justin is also a professor of Space Science & Engineering for the University of Michigan, where he designs sensors for spacecraft that explore extreme environments in space from the surface of the Sun to the outer edges of the solar system. SunRISE is an array of six CubeSats operating as one very large radio telescope. NASA has awarded $62.6 million to design, build and launch SunRISE by no earlier than July 1, 2023.

** 2019 IAF Global Technical Symposium – Small Satellite Missions – IAF Young Professionals

The Small Satellite Missions Global Technical Session (GTS) is collaboration between the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Small Satellite Missions Symposium and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Workforce Development/Young Professionals Programme Committee. This session is unique in that it allows for sharing of information on a global scale with presenters and audience both at the IAC venue and online at their home/work/university locations.

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