A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:
** Virginia Tech awarded NASA contract to launch and operate the LAICE CubeSat (Lower Atmosphere/Ionosphere Coupling Experiment) as a part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative program. Lower Atmosphere/Ionsphere Coupling Experiment CubeSat – Gov Mik
The spacecraft will study to
…what extent do Gravity Waves influence the coupling of the Earth’s upper atmosphere and the lower ionosphere/mesosphere/thermosphere.
The Virgin Tech team led the LAICE CubeSat project but they were
unable to attain an FCC license and therefore LAICE has been shelved indefinitely. The 2013 National Academy Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey Key Science Goal 2 has made this an attractive opportunity as launch and operation of the LAICE CubeSat will address key aspects of the goal.
** University Würzburg Experimental Satellite 4 (UWE-4) demonstrates Morpheus Space miniature electric thrusters: Electric thrusters changed attitude of University Würzburg cubesat – SpaceNews.com
The University Würzburg Experimental Satellite 4 has four 160-gram Morpheus Nano Field Effect Electric Propulsion (NanoFEEP) thrusters integrated in its rails, facing the same direction. In May, mission controllers fired the thrusters, which combine a liquid gallium propellant with a chip-based neutralizer, for slightly more than six minutes.
While the thrusters fired, the satellite’s rotation increased from approximately 1.7 degrees per second to more than four degrees per second, according to “Hybrid attitude control on-board UWE-4 using magnetorquers and the electric propulsion system NanoFEEP,” by Alexander Kramer, Philip Bangert and Klaus Schilling of University Würzburg.
** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-223 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
- 50th Anniversary AMSAT Space Symposium Banquet Speakers Announced – Tickets Now Available
- FUNcube-1/AO-73 Entering Continuous Sunlight
- ARRL/TAPR 2019 Digital Communications Conference Call for Papers
- BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 Get OSCAR Designations
- 19th Global Symposium for Regulators
- SSA Defends 23cm Band Against Galileo Threat
- Upcoming Satellite Operations
- ARISS News
- Satellite Shorts from All Over
General CubeSat/SmallSat info:
- Projects:
- Steam-Powered Cubesats Dance in Space as One NASA Spacecraft Commands Its Twin | Space.com
- AeroCube 10, jam-packed with experiments, deploys from Cygnus – SpaceNews.com
- Air Force cubesat successfully deployed from Atlas 5 upper stage – SpaceNews.com
- JPL’s Innovative MarCO Satellite Wins the ‘Oscar’ for Tiny Spacecraft – Pasadena.com
- Pearl White cubesats mission set to launch – 45th Space Wing
- BRICSAT2 and PSAT2 designated Navy-OSCAR 103 (NO-103) and Navy- OSCAR 104 (NO-104) – Southgate Amateur Radio News
- Inexpensive chip-size satellites orbit Earth – Stanford News
- Seeker Robotic External CubeSat Inspection Vehicle DTO – NASA
- Smallsat Conf. news & announcements:
- SmallSat Archives at SpaceNews.com
- LeoLabs Unveils First Commercial Satellite Tracking Service for SmallSat and CubeSat Operators – LeoLabs
- TriSept, Millennium and Rocket Lab to demonstrate de-orbit technology – SpaceNews.com
- NOAA seeks to “kick the tires” on new instruments, mission concepts – SpaceNews.com
====