Educational Aspects of a CubeSat Project (original) (raw)
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University CubeSat Project Management for Success
2019
CubeSats have been developed by many different institutions since they were introduced by California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University in 1999. Given the 40% failure rate of university missions, it is important to discover what project arrangements may give the CubeSat the best chance of success. The aim of this paper is to offer those wishing to start a CubeSat program some indications of what successful project management at a university may look like. This paper provides case studies of 3 universities who have launched more than 4 satellites: University of Michigan, the Montana State University, and Aalborg University in Denmark. The information was gathered by asking supervisors from these teams a series of questions relating to project management. These included team structure, continuity, how the students organize themselves, how much of the work is embedded in the curriculum, how new students were integrated and how documentation was used to manage the project. The different methods of organization used in the different programs were described with their unique features. After this, both the variation and the common elements were identified. It is hoped that this research will contribute to successful CubeSat projects in universities worldwide.
Experience and methodology gained from 4 years of student satellite projects
Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technologies, 2005. RAST 2005.
The AAU Cubesat student satellite project at Aalborg University was initiated in September 2001 and led to the launch of the satellite on the 30th of June 2003 with a "Rockot" rocket from Plesetsk in Russia. The satellite survived three months in orbit and based on the experiences gained the next student satellite project was commenced called AAUSAT II which is due for launch early 2006. This paper presents the experiences gained and lessons learned from the work with student satellite projects at Aalborg University as well as the methodology used to manage these projects. First an introduction to the concept of student satellite projects is given and the two student satellite projects are introduced. Then an introduction and description of the Problem Based Learning concept used at Aalborg University is given and advantages of applying it to these projects are discussed. The benefits of student satellite projects are also discussed. Finally the specific management methods for the two projects are described and lessons learned from each project as well as a set of recommendations for future projects are given.
Project Management In Student Satellite Projects: A University – Industry Collaboration View
2012
This research contribution propels the idea of collaborating environment for the execution of student satellite projects in the backdrop of project management principles. The recent past has witnessed a technological shift in the aerospace industry from the big satellite projects to the small spacecrafts especially for the earth observation and communication purposes. This vibrant shift has vitalized the academia and industry to share their resources and to create a win-win paradigm of mutual success and technological development along with the human resource development in the field of aerospace. Small student satellites are the latest jargon of academia and more than 100 CUBESAT projects have been executed successfully all over the globe and many new student satellite projects are in the development phase. The small satellite project management requires the application of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to achieve the defined mission requirements. The Authors have...
A Methodology for Successful University Graduate CubeSat Programs
2020
The University of Colorado Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering has over a decade of success in designing, building, and operating student led CubeSat missions. The experience and lessons learned from building and operating the CSSWE, MinXSS-1, MinXSS-2, and QB50-Challenger missions have helped grow a knowledge base on the most effective and efficient ways to manage some of the “tall poles” when it comes to student run CubeSat missions. Among these “tall poles” we have seen student turnover, software, and documentation become some of the hardest to knockdown and we present our strategies for doing so. We use the MAXWELL mission (expected to launch in 2021) as a road-map to detail the methodology we have built over the last decade to ensure the greatest chance of mission success. INTRODUCTION CubeSats at the University of Colorado The University of Colorado Smead Aerospace graduate program has launched and operated four successful missions to date: CSSWE [1] [2], MinXSS-1 [3], M...
System Design and Project Management for University Satellites
This paper focuses on university satellite projects that have spread all over the world in recent decades. In this study, a university satellite refers to a satellite project that is initiated by students. In most cases, university satellites are relatively small with a mass between 1 kg (10-cm cubic satellites) and 50 kg (50-cm cubic satellite). Although a university satellite has limited mission objectives because of severe budget constraints in and the amateur development environment, it often has impressive technical benefits. Moreover, university satellite projects can provide good educational opportunities for students to learn satellite engineering and management skills. This paper describes the system design concepts for effective development and the characteristics of project management based on the QSAT (Kyushu satellite) project experience.
Engineering Methodology for Student-Driven CubeSats
Aerospace, 2019
CubeSats are widely used by universities and research institutions all over the world. Their popularity is generally attributed to the use of low-cost components, free student labor and simple design. They have been shown to encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students to become involved in designing, implementing and testing a real functioning spacecraft system. Projects like this encourage students from different disciplines to team up to design and build CubeSats, providing interdisciplinary work experience. Participating students vary in their expertise in developing such systems. Some will work on the project for years while others are not willing to spend two or three consecutive semesters developing a CubeSat project. Despite their simplicity in design and low cost, CubeSats are considered great engineering systems for exploring space. Nevertheless, a large number of CubeSat projects fail due to having an unclear mission, ambiguous system requirements a...
Motivating Students to Develop Satellites in Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) Environment
International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 2013
During the last decade, engineering students in a Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) environment at Aalborg University, Denmark, have developed a total of three student satellites. In order to complete such complex projects, it is emphasized that a high level of motivation is needed for the students. Thus efforts have been taken in the context of project management style with this aim. However, it is necessary to discuss this issue from the students' perspective to achieve a better PBL environment, which leads to the research question concerning how the students perceive their motivation in developing satellite projects in a PBL environment. Empirically, a total of 12 student participants have been interviewed. The results show that in project management their motivation is highly stimulated by a series of factors, such as the task characteristics, support of peers, help of supervisors and openness. Nevertheless, the time schedule can be a barrier to motivation.
The benefit of project based courses as a " First Contact " between students and space industry
Space technology plays an ever larger role in our society, even though most people are unaware of this fact. Luckily, an increasing interest in space technology among students has been observed over the last years. At some universities, space related courses are available as part of a physics degree or an engineering degree with a special focus on e.g. satellite communications or aerospace engineering. In Norway, there exists no specialized aerospace education resulting in a Bachelor or Master's degree. Introductory courses and project work, both within the curriculum and as volunteer activities, are used as a " first contact " between students, space technology and space industry. At NTNU project classes such as the multidisciplinary group work course Experts in Teamwork (EiT) and more long term group projects, such as the NUTS project are examples of this. Many students are very fond of space and space technology and it is often a motivational factor for STEM-studies in general. Unfortunately, only a few students get the chance to directly work with space technology during their studies. Space related project work will therefore further nourish the space interest. Even if the space industry in Norway is quite substantial with a turnover of around 640 M EUR / year, it is fairly unknown both to most students as well as to the general public. As a consequence, space related job opportunities (both nationally and internationally) are not well known. An improved connection between students and the industry will hopefully lead to the most motivated students getting relevant industry jobs after graduation. The industry plays an important role in making relevant jobs both known and available. This year, the Kongsberg Group launched the Starburst summer intern program in close cooperation with NAROM. Even without any aerospace program, several space related projects are available at NTNU. One example is NTNU Test Satellite (NUTS) where students are designing and prototyping hardware and software for a CubeSat. EiT offers a wide range of topics. Projects are diverse and spans from creating a " Mars lab " on Earth, working as part of an international project investigating how to better track satellites during the initial launch phase or building new payloads for a student rocket in close cooperation with NAROM. As space technology is international and multidisciplinary, it is important to allow students to both share and gain experiences by participating at relevant international conferences and workshops .
From Hands-on Project Learning to an International Collaborated Satellite Research/Education Project
In engineering education, the teaching and learning of hands-on experiences are deemed as essential. This is especially true for space education in which the notion of 3I principle which stands for international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary has been advocated. Ever since 2002, a pico-satellite system engineering has been offered by the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) with two innovations in mind: one is to conduct the course teaching through the internet and the other is to facilitate the course through pico-satellite design and competition. The course is symbolized with several student projects in which students in group are required to perform concept and preliminary spacecraft system design. An outcome of the student project is the PACE (Platform for Attitude Control Experiment) satellite, which is a three-axis stabilizing pico-satellite. The experiences and confidence gained in the PACE project have served as a basis for an international joint collaboration in the development of the ESEMS (Experimental Scientific-Education Micro-Satellite). The ESEMS is a cooperated project between Taiwan and Russia in promoting space science research and education through the development, launch, and operation of a micro-satellite. The joint activity fulfills international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary principles. The project is international as universities in Taiwan including NCKU and National Central University and Moscow State University in Russia take part in this joint project. During the development process, teams from different countries are required to exchange engineering knowledge and to overcome cultural gap. The ESEMS (aka, Tatyana-2) has been successfully launched in 2009. In the paper, some space education and research activities at NCKU will be briefly reviewed. The collaboration of the Taiwanese team and Russian counterpart in the development of ESEMS will then be described. Some design and operation results of the ESEMS will also be discussed. This is followed by a section on the lesson learned on this joint activity.
2004 Annual Conference Proceedings
The FalconSAT program is a unique, dynamic small-satellite research program that serves as a capstone course for Astronautical Engineering majors at the United States Air Force Academy. The goal of the program is to give students the opportunity to "learn space by doing space." The program results in a satellite launched into space every two to three years. It is conducted in the same manner required of any civilian company delivering a satellite for a NASA/Air Force launch. In addition to the design and construction of the satellites, students must meet all of the Department of Defense (DoD) milestones, including preparing and briefing the Alternative Systems Review (ASR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), and Product Acceptance Demonstration (PAD). These reviews are given to and evaluated by members of the civilian aerospace community and scientists and engineers from U.S. Air Force space organizations outside of the Academy. Each student is required to become familiar with the functioning of the payload and all of the subsystems. The average student participates in design, clean-room construction, shake and bake-out testing, ground station operations, program management, and presents review briefings during the two-semester course. The students also prepare and brief the proposed experimental payload briefings to the DoD Space Experiments Review Board (SERB), competing on a level playing field with all of the other civilian and military proposals. This paper discusses the current status of the FalconSAT program, the challenges of an almost complete turnover of personnel every year, and the dynamics of managing the design, construction, and flying of a satellite every two to three years by a completely student team. Since this program is conducted in the same manner as a typical science and engineering program, students from other academic departments also participate in the program. The program has been augmented by the participation of students from six different academic departments. The addition of this multidisciplinary real-world atmosphere adds an extra dimension of realism to the program. This paper discusses the various solutions the Academy has devised to address the many challenges of conducting a successful program in a highly constrained undergraduate environment.