Objective
Fueled by mass market demand, terrestrial consumer electronics continue to drive technology advancement in the field of microelectronics devices. Many of these technologies are spearheaded by the contributions of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). There is a clear opportunity to revolutionize space technologies by leveraging advancement in the commercial electronics market. However, despite the obvious benefits to the space industry, it remains difficult for SMEs to get involved due to the significant cost, effort, time, and paper work to qualify parts for space applications. A trend toward smaller and cheaper satellites allows for a novel approach to space qualification and testing. Nanosatellites (between 1kg and 10kg) can be launched at a relatively low cost as piggy back payloads for larger satellite missions. Since the cost of failure is an order of magnitude lower than conventional satellites, nanosatellites offer an ideal platform for high risk demonstration missions.
The aim of this project is to flight qualify a wide range of SME payloads in a 3U 3kg nanosatellite platform operating at a 700km orbit. The primary purpose of this spacecraft is as a technology demonstrator. Each SME in the consortium will be responsible for contributing a particular spacecraft subsystem. The University of Surrey will integrate these systems into the nanosatellite platform, and will also be responsible for the ADCS and CMGs of the satellite. ISIS will oversee the launch opportunity and deployment of the satellite. Astrium, as a Large System Integrator (LSI), will help roadmap the technology demonstrated in this mission to future applications within the European space framework.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringsatellite technology
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicsmicroelectronics
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-SPACE-2012-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research projectCoordinator
GU2 7XH Guildford
United Kingdom