Opinion - News Analysis   

Satellites built by universities

— PHOTO: AFP

SINGLE MISSION: The PSLV rocket which launched a cluster 10 satellites.

At its most recent launch, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carried 10 satellites into orbit at one go. While earth-observation satellites typically weigh hundreds of kilograms and the weight of communication satellites is measured in tonnes, eight of the spacecraft that flew on the PSLV were really small satellites. They each weighed between just three kg and 16 kg at launch. All but one of those tiny satellites had been built by universities in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.

Building such satellites is a good way to teach students how to develop complex systems, according to Jordi Puig-Suari, chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department in the California Polytechnic State University. He is also a co-director, along with Robert Twiggs of Stanford University, of what is known as the CubeSat programme. Six of the small satellites that went on the PSLV were CubeSats.

A CubeSat is, as its name suggests, in the shape of a cube with each side measuring 10 cm in length and typically weighing around one kg. It was a concept developed by the California Polytechnic and Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Laboratory. They have laid down the design specifications for CubeSats.

In the past, a big concern with university satellites was that they took a long time to build and launch, observed Dr. Puig-Suari. A small satellite the size of a CubeSat could, on the other hand, be finished relatively quickly.

In addition, having common standards for CubeSats made it easier for many universities to look for launches together. “So you could start building a satellite even though you didn’t even know when you were going to launch it,” he told this correspondent.

A CubeSat’s small size also reduced its complexity and made it possible for students to understand the entire system much better. Students thereby learnt how to make all the various parts that go into something like a satellite, such as its power system, onboard computer, radio and so on, work well with one another. That is just where a lot of systems, especially complex ones, fail, he pointed out.

Some countries have used CubeSats to train engineers who do not necessarily go work in the space industry, Dr. Puig-Suari remarked. “Cell phone manufacturers and the car manufacturers were very interested because they view it as a way to train people on how to build electronic systems that work in a harsh environment and had to work well with complex electronic systems and radios and all that stuff, which you find in cars all the time now,” he added.

Some 40 CubeSats have so far been launched and something like two dozen of them are still in orbit, believes Dr. Puig-Suari. (The CubeSat website can be seen at http://www.cubesat.org/ )

The first launch of CubeSats in 2003 was coordinated by the Space Flight Laboratory of the University of Toronto’s Institute of Aerospace Studies in Canada. Once again it was the Space Flight Laboratory that negotiated with the Antrix Corporation, the marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for launching the university-built satellites carried on the PSLV recently, including two of their own.

“Many university laboratories have concentrated on reducing the mass of the satellite to bring development and launch costs within reach of their budgets,” remarked Robert E. Zee, manager of the Space Flight Laboratory, in a report published along with Daniel Kekez. “By using smaller satellites with capabilities distilled to the essential needs, missions can be developed in a short period of time with a team of a few engineers and graduate students, further reducing the cost of development.”

Technology had advanced to the point that small satellites could “now complete missions that were previously only possible using larger satellites, resulting in impressive cost savings,” observed Dr. Zee and his colleagues in a conference paper presented in 2005.

India too is getting into satellites developed and built in a university setting. In early 2002, ISRO and Anna University in Chennai announced the development of the first such satellite, which was given the name ANUSAT. The main objective behind the 35-kg spacecraft was to “involve universities in building micro satellites as a means to promote and encourage intra-disciplinary technologies with the help of ISRO,” according to the latest annual report of the Department of Space.

ANUSAT carries a digital store-and-forward messaging system for amateur communication as well as other technological payloads. The payloads and other satellite sub-systems are designed and fabricated at Anna University. The satellite is expected to be ready for launch later this year.

Meanwhile, students and faculty at IIT Bombay are seriously studying the possibility of designing and building a satellite of their own. This student-led effort is looking at making a 10 kg satellite.

This small satellite could carry a thermal imaging camera as well as instruments to study the upper atmosphere, according to Saptarshi Bandopadhyay, a third-year student in Aerospace Engineering who is one of two project coordinators. Some 40 students and about 20 faculty, cutting across disciplines, are involved in the project, he said.

The requirements that the satellite and its subsystems must meet have been finalised. By the end of summer, it is hoped that a concrete proposal for the satellite could be prepared, Mr. Bandopadhyay added.

Now IIT Kanpur is planning to another satellite. Design activity on the satellite, which was expected to weigh about three to five kg, had started, said Nalinaksh Vyas, who heads the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is project director for the satellite.

The satellite would use the institute’s strengths, including in MEMS technology (an abbreviation for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) where mechanical devices, sensors and electronics are miniaturised and put on a chip, Prof. Vyas told The-Hindu. The project had produced a lot of enthusiasm, with both faculty and students from different disciples joining the programme.

The aim was to have satellite’s design and specifications completed in three months’ time. It is hoped the satellite, which has been named IITK_MEMSat, could be got ready in time for the institute’s Golden Jubilee that falls next year, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Necessary compromise
Regulatory overhaul needed
Reservations on the road: pause, reflect & learn
President Hu in Japan: symbolism and substance
Satellites built by universities
Corrections and clarifications
Outrageous
Creating an icon
On corruption

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu