Tag Archives: Space

Feb 8 2012

1st Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop

The 1st Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop takes palce in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 29-30, 2012.

iCubeSat, the Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop, will address the technical challenges, opportunities, and practicalities of space exploration with CubeSats. The workshop will provide a unique environment for open practical collaboration between academic researchers, industry professionals, policy makers, and students developing this new and rapidly growing field.

Talks and round tables will focus on three themes: technology, science, and open collaboration.

Keynote speakers

Technology: Mason Peck, NASA, Chief Technologist
Science: Sara Seager, MIT, Professor of Physics and Planetary Science

The program will also include unconference sessions to provide additional opportunities to engage with the interplanetary CubeSat community and potential collaborators. Talks and supporting material will be streamed and posted on the conference website. A lively social program in and around summertime Boston will be arranged for participants and their guests.

Further information on the event website http://icubesat.wordpress.com/

Feb 6 2012

NASA Seeks Proposals for Small Satellite Demonstrations

NASA is seeking proposals for flight demonstrations of small satellite technologies with the goal of increasing the technical capabilities and range of uses for this emerging category of spacecraft.

Small satellites typically weigh less than 400 pounds (180 kg) and are generally launched as secondary payloads on rockets carrying larger spacecraft. The small satellite category includes softball-sized “CubeSats,” which are standardized, small, cube-shaped spacecraft that can carry small payloads, and even smaller experimental spacecraft.

“NASA’s Edison SmallSat program helps to continue America’s leadership in space through the further development of this class of satellites — small, agile and relatively inexpensive spacecraft that could perform many tasks in space enabling new missions and providing unique educational opportunities,” said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA’s Space Technology Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “These spacecraft represent a new opportunity among the many ways that NASA can approach its diverse goals in science, exploration and education.”

NASA’s Edison Small Satellite Demonstration Program has released a broad agency announcement seeking low-cost, flight demonstration proposals for small satellite technology. The topic areas for this solicitation will be limited to demonstrations of communications systems for small satellites, proximity operations with small satellites and propulsion systems for Cubesat-scale satellites. Other technology and application demonstrations will be addressed in future solicitations.

“Encouraging the growth of small-spacecraft technology also benefits our economy,” said Andrew Petro, Edison program executive at NASA Headquarters. “Many of the technologies that enable small spacecraft come from the world of small business, where commercial practices provide innovative and cost-effective solutions. Those technologies will continue to advance as demand and competition drive companies to excel.”

The advancement of small spacecraft technologies offers the potential for small satellites to expand the types of science and exploration at NASA. These spacecraft can accomplish new types of missions never before possible, and they are expected to provide space access to more technologists and scientists. Their small size means that they are less expensive to build and launch, which allows NASA to engage the expanding small-space community, including small businesses and university researchers, in technology that helps enable larger goals.

Executive summaries of proposals must be submitted by March 4, 2012. NASA expects to invite full proposals this spring, with selections made this fall. A selected project must be completed within two to three years at a total cost of no more than $15 million. The number of awards will depend on the quality and cost of proposals and availability of funding.

The Edison Small Satellite Demonstration Program is managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., for the Space Technology Program, which works to provide the technologies and capabilities that will enable NASA’s future missions. To view the announcement and instructions for submissions, visit:

http://tinyurl.com/7an7lcs

For more information on NASA’s Space Technology Program, visit:
Feb 5 2012

UKSEDS – Students for the Exploration and Development of Space

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Members of UKSEDS are developing an amateur radio satellite payload called myPocketQub442 (437.425-437.525 MHz) that will fly on the UKube-1 satellite towards the end of the year.

UKSEDS is a space enthusiast organisation for both school and university students. Anyone who is interested can become a member of UKSEDS, young or old, student or non-student. Its aims are:

– To promote the exploration of space, and the research and development of space-related technologies.
– To provide a forum through which students can become involved in the international space community.
– To motivate students to excel in space-related fields.
– To share in the advancing knowledge and growing benefits to be reaped from space.
– To improve space-related education through both academic work and hands-on projects.

UKSEDS holds an annual National Conference, which brings together students throughout the country to learn more about space and to meet professionals in the space business.

Their myPocketQub442 project has been selected to fly on the UK Space Agency’s first mission UKube-1. Read all about it at http://ukseds.org/projects/ukube/

Members of the group took part in a parabolic flight on which they tested the hinges that deploy the solar panels of UKube-1.

Watch Microgravity-on-Demand 1/20111120/P11/3D1L raw video

OpenSpace365 myPocketQub442 List of Missions http://openspace365.appspot.com/

If you are interested in setting up a UKSEDS branch at your school or university please see
http://ukseds.org/branches/

UKSEDS http://ukseds.org/

Feb 4 2012

ARISS contact planned with technical college in Poland

On Saturday February 4, 2012 at approximately 12.41 UTC, which is 13.41 CEWT, an educational ARISS contact is planned with the Polytechnic school in Walbrzych, Poland. Amateur radio station W6SRJ, located in California, will operate the contact.

The Polytechnic school in Walbrzych has been established in 1946.
These days it is well known as Secondary Complex School “Energetyk”, with a population of over 900 students. They study electricity, electro-mechanics, electronics, technical graphics, telecommunications, IT and ITC techniques, advertising. The school is equipped for students with disabilities, education is on a very high-level and graduate students can easily find employment. It is the best technical school in Walbrzych.

Apart from teaching, the school offers many other activities.
The Shooting section exists since sixty years and takes leading positions in “The Silver Muskets” contest. Since three years, students take part in the Robotic Group, acquiring knowledge and having a lot of fun, building robots from scratch, according to their own ideas and knowledge. They were several times among the winners in prestigious competitions on an International level. There is also the school band “Underland”. The band is well-known in Walbrzych for they perform many concerts, in the city and around. In school is also active in “Energol TV” and they produce a newspaper “Alcatraz 2”.

The amateur radio club SP6PBA is located in the school. Besides HF communications with HAM operators all over the World, the club also transmits HAM TV in the 1.2 GHz band.

The ARISS contact will be conducted in English. It will be broadcast on EchoLink AMSAT (node 101 377) and JK1ZRW (node 277 208) Conference servers, as well as on IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010.

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows.
1. Lukasz (18): What is the difference between an astronaut and a cosmonaut?
2. Kacper (16): How does it feel to be weightless?
3. Karol (20): How long does it take to get accustomed to gravity after returning to Earth from the ISS?
4. Mateusz (20): Are large structures on the Earth such as the Chinese wall or the artificial islands in Dubai visible from the ISS? What else?
5. Piotr C. (20): Is eating in weightlessness difficult?

6. Dawid (18): How do you spend your free time on the station?
7. Sebastian (16): Has the crew got any health problems related to being in space?
8. Piotr J. (16): What kind of everyday tasks and what kind of experiments do you perform on the ISS?
9. Lukasz (18): How did it happen that you became an astronaut? Did you dream about it as a child?
10. Kacper (16): Do you keep in touch with your family when you are in space?

11. Karol(20): Are you provided with media such as phone, Internet, radio or TV?
12. Mateusz (20): Is the rubbish thrown out into space or brought back to Earth?
13. Piotr C. (20): Which planets of our solar system apart from Earth can you see through the window in Cupola module?
14. Dawid (18): Is it hard to take care of personal hygiene in the absence of gravity?
15. Sebastian (16): How long does the trip from lift-off until docking at the ISS last?
16. Piotr J. (16): How long does an astronaut’s mission training last?
17. Darek (55): How did you celebrate the beginning of 2012 on the station and which time zone did you have to adjust to?

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries.

ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers onboard the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters’ interest in science, technology and learning.

73

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS Chairman

Feb 3 2012

UK Space Agency to send up first satellite

Artist impression of UKube-1

The UK Space Agency has announced plans to launch its first satellite – if it can find the right spaceship to catch a lift from.

The tiny UKube-1 will carry a variety of scientific experiments when it eventually gets off the ground later this year.

 

The project will see the agency take a leap into launching cubesats – a type of relatively cheap, mini-satellite for space research which has a volume of little more than one litre, a mass of around 1.3kg.

It also marks a significant departure for UKSA, formed less than a year ago from the British National Space Centre, which had focused on supplying European Space Agency with parts and expertise for a variety of missions. 

Head of communications Matt Goodman said: ‘We’re still in discussions with potential launch providers for UKube-1, and are working hard to find a launch option for the satellite.

‘Since cubesats tend to “piggy-back” on larger payloads during a launch, finding an opportunity with the right orbital configuration is not straightforward.’

Despite its relatively small budget, UKSA hopes to become a much bigger player in the industry, launching several more satellites in the years to come.

Agency head David Williams said: ‘The idea of cubesat is that we see it as a series with a launch every year or maybe two years allowing the sort of people that wouldn’t normally get access to space to run experiments in it.

‘We’d like to see this being an ongoing programme because it gives university groups, and even school groups and amateur groups, the opportunity to test fly equipment. It also gives industry the opportunity to test fly and to develop ideas on bits and pieces of electronics.’

UKSA is also involved in another ambitious project named Skylon, which is an ‘unpiloted, reusable spaceplane intended to provide inexpensive and reliable access to space’, according to the British firm Reaction Engines, which is hoping to build the new craft. 

The project got the green light from the European Space Agency in May last year. Although technologically possible, the project’s major stumbling block appears to be cost.

Mr Williams said: ‘We’re trying to work with [the team] to work out how they can raise the necessary finance and whether government should have any involvement in it in the future.

‘It’s going to be an expensive programme, several billion pounds over quite a long period, and the question is which industries wish to be involved, how UK should it be, how European should it be, should it be an international project?’ he added. ‘The idea of a true single-stage-to-orbit plane is very novel.’

Feb 1 2012

Vega Satellite Launch Vehicle

The Vega (Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata) is a new-generation launch vehicle being developed jointly by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA) for Arianespace.

Vega is named after the second brightest star in the northern hemisphere.

The Vega is a small launcher which can place small to medium-sized satellites into the polar and low-earth orbits. The launch vehicle complements the heavy Ariane 5 and medium Soyuz rockets launched from French Guiana.

Vega development programme history

“The Vega is a small launcher which can place small to medium-sized satellites into the polar and low-earth orbits.”

The development of the Vega launcher commenced under the Vega programme in 1998. The programme is being funded by Italy (65%), France (12.43%), Spain (5%), Belgium (5.63%), the Netherlands (3.5%), Switzerland (1.34%) and Sweden (0.8%).

Vega’s main engine P80 rocket motor was successfully tested in December 2007. The test campaign of the Vega launch vehicle commenced in November 2010.

The test phase validated the operational readiness of the launch vehicle and ground station components. The assembly of the new Vega launcher was completed in February 2011.

The first launch is scheduled for February 2012 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. ESA plans to launch its IXV (intermediate eXperimental vehicle) aboard Vega in 2014.

The marketing activities will commence after the first launch. Arianespace plans to increase the launch frequency from two to four each year.

Contractors

ASI and Avio have established a new 30-70 partnership called Elv for the programme. ESA and Elv signed the Vega development contract in February 2003.

Elv, as the prime contractor, is responsible for the management of the Vega programme. The company also coordinates the activities of the subcontractors involved. Arianespace provides support services for the qualification and combined test campaign of the rocket.

In December 2011, ESA and the Arianespace signed a contract to study the launch of Vega under the Verta (Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment) programme. The programme will test and qualify new vital technologies for future re-entry vehicles.

Vega design

The Vega launch vehicle is designed to support various missions and payload configurations in order to meet different market requirements. It offers payload configurations from a single satellite to one primary satellite plus six micro-satellites.

“ASI and Avio have established a new 30-70 partnership called Elv for the programme. ESA and Elv signed the Vega development contract in February 2003.”

Vega can place multiple payloads into orbit which is uncommon with most small launchers. It can carry payloads of 300kg to 2,500kg based on the type and altitude of the orbit required by the customers.

The vehicle has a length of 29.9m, a diameter of 3.025m and a typical lift-off mass of 137t.

The in-orbit launch capacity of the vehicle is 1,500kg into the polar orbit at an altitude of 700km. The single body launcher is incorporated with three solid propulsion stages and an AVUM (attitude vernier upper module).

The solid propellant motors, supplied by Avio, are covered by composite casing. The motors feature carbon epoxy filament wound casing and nozzle.

The first stage is powered by the P80 solid rocket motor. The second and third stages are powered by Zefiro 23 and Zefiro 9 motors respectively. The fourth stage AVUM consists of a UDMH / NTO bipropellant main engine with re-ignition capability and cold gas attitude control system.

Vega launch facilities

The Vega will be launched from ZLV launch complex at Kourou, French Guiana. Based on the ELA-1 (Ensemble de Lancement Ariane No. 1) launch complex, the site was originally used for the Ariane 1 and Ariane 3 vehicles.

The existing facilities, such as the launch pad, mobile gantry and infrastructure, were upgraded for the launch of the Vega.

The original flame ducts of the launch pad were retained. They will transfer exhaust gases during ignition and lift-off of the Vega.

The power and environmental control connections to the launcher and its payloads are provided by a new fixed umbilical mast. Four tall towers erected around the launch table will provide protection against lightning strikes.

The renovated mobile gantry provides provides ideal working conditions to the personnel during the launch vehicle assembly and payload integration.

The operational control centre for the Vega will be within the Spaceport’s Control Centre no. 3 (CDL 3) facility, which is used for Ariane 5 missions. The centre incorporates independent operational control and monitoring systems. The Vega facility will share resources with the ongoing Ariane 5 mission as it is co-located in the CDL-3 building. Continue reading →