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

** The Community Satellite Project aims to crowd-develop CubeSats

The Community Satellite Project is an online group of international space professionals and students, collaborating to launch BATSAT, a crowd-developed cubesat. The group was initially founded in early November 2019 via r/space, following a reputable space company’s offer of a free launch.

Our goals are not only to develop and use BATSAT to conduct cutting edge aerospace research, but to facilitate mentorship between space experts and students.

We are currently in the recruiting and mission defining stages of this process.

If you are interested in becoming part of the team, please get in touch via our Join Us page.

This article profiles one of the project’s founders and describes their plans: Southland teenager on mission to build satellite | Stuff.co.nz

More than 740 people have joined the online group, including aerospace engineers, avionics and payload experts, cloud engineers, satellite ground station engineers and university students from all over the world. 

Of this, 260 supporters with specialist skills have been assigned to various teams to confirm the parameters of the project, with regular conversations held using an online meeting app. 

The collective decision is to build two small satellites, each about the size of a Rubik’s Cube, to test a theory about whether electro-magnetic tether straps can be used to de-orbit a satellite once it has come to the end of its life.

More about the project:

• TheCommunitySat – reddit.com
• The Community Satellite Project (@TheCommunitySat) | Twitter
• Blog Feed – BATSAT

** Freeport, New York high school team building CubeSat funded with NASA grant:  Freeport High School prepares for liftoff | Herald Community Newspapers – www.liherald.com

The students have broken their project into phases, and are now in the construction phase. Once Strong and Johnson finish building the satellite, they will conduct environmental tests to expose it to vibration, vacuum and temperature conditions closely identical to space.

Then the students will work with NASA to prepare to launch it into space. After the launch, the seniors will perform satellite operations and conduct space experiments. Once the space mission is complete, the nanosatellite will fall to Earth, possibly burning up in the atmosphere.

See also District Wins Grant to Build CubeSat – Freeport Public Schools.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-335 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

• AMSAT Fox Leaderboard Will Show Monthly Leaders
• AMSAT Will Be at Superstition Superfest Hamfest
• Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission
• FCC Seeks to Clear Radio Amateurs Out of 3.4 GHz
• WRC-19 Final Report: Small Satellites and the 1240-1300 MHz Band
• AMSAT Auction Celebrating 45th Birthday of AO-7 Raises $480
• Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
• Upcoming Satellite Operations
• Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

• Resources:
  • CubeSat satellite talks now online – Southgate Amateur Radio News
    • Open Source Cubesat Workshop 2019 – YouTube
  • Space as a service takes root at RBC Signals – SpaceNews.com
•  Projects:
  • ESA’s Hera asteroid mission is go – ESA – “Hera will carry two CubeSats on board, which will be able to fly much closer to the asteroid’s surface, carrying out crucial scientific studies, before touching down. Hera’s up-close observations will turn asteroid deflection into a well-understood planetary defence technique.”
    • Hera’s radar CubeSat will peer into asteroid’s heart – ESA

    • Hera’s Juventas CubeSat – ESA

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