{"id":21390,"date":"2020-03-12T15:12:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T19:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21390"},"modified":"2020-03-12T15:12:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T19:12:38","slug":"student-and-amateur-cubesat-news-roundup-march-12-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21390","title":{"rendered":"Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – March.12.2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

** The A&A CubeSat Team<\/a> at the University of Wisconsin is building SOC-1<\/strong>\u00a0 or Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The SOC-i mission will carry an advanced guidance, navigation and control (GNC) payload capable of reorienting the spacecraft while satisfying multiple pointing constraints. SOC-i will also carry an Earth imaging camera, enabling it to take pictures of specified ground locations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The mission will operate in space for 6 months, and will be supported by a UW ground station being developed in the Aerospace Engineering Research Building. It is a stated goal of the mission to be completely open-source, maintain code on our team’s\u00a0GitHub page\u00a0<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

See also: Down the rabbit hole of UW\u2019s STEM RSOs – dailyuw.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Members collaborate throughout the entire design process of the CubeSat, developing different aspects, from its guidance navigation control, electrical power system, physical structure, communications, command and data handling, and imaging configuration.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSpace engineering is such a multifaceted discipline that really, if you show up and just do 10 hours of work, you\u2019re going to learn a hundred new things,\u201d Tormey said. \u201cThe thing you get out of it is experience. Even if the work is grueling and hard, knowing that ultimately you\u2019re going to send something up into space is the best motivator ever.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

** The BUSAT<\/a> (Boston University SATellite) program will see ANDESITE<\/a> launched<\/strong> on a Rocket Lab<\/a> Electron rocket. Trisept completes Cubesat integration for NASA ELaNa 32 Andesite Mission – SpaceDaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n

“Our ANDESITE mission with NASA will demonstrate how CubeSats can play a vital role in providing an unprecedented view into the variations of electrical activity racing through space and its impact on our lives here on earth. GPS services, for example, can be directly affected,” explained Josh Semeter, an electrical engineering professor with Boston University’s Center for Space Physics who first conceptualized the ANDESITE mission.<\/em><\/p>\n

“If all goes as planned, our CubeSat will release eight small satellite sensors in space to form a first-of-its-kind free-flying mesh network capable of delivering uniquely comprehensive data mapping of magnetic fields and space weather to our smart phones here on campus.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“TriSept, the University spacecraft team and NASA have completed the initial integration of the ANDESITE mission by installing the CubeSat into the dispenser device and preparing the spacecraft for shipment to Rocket Lab in New Zealand,” said Jason Armstrong, TriSept’s Director of Launch Integration Services.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Illustration of the ANDESITE 6U CubeSat with picosat deployed to study currents in the magnetosphere. Credits: BUSAT<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a BUSAT video from 2015 about the ANDESITE project:<\/p>\n