Be part of the Satellite Design
We want your school to participate in the design by telling us what your students would like the satellite to do. Just complete the form below to get started. Do not worry if you do not have a good idea of how satellites work, because the first thing we need to consider is what the cubesat should do and use the ideas to inform its design.
Our objective is to build a small satellite called a cubesat and we want your input. Every cubesat consists of one or more units or “cubes” of size 10cmx10cmx10cm called a “U”. Several “U”s can be connected to form a larger satellite. In keeping with the idea of making space accessible to as many people as possible, we plan to build a small but very smart cubesat consisting of 3 U’s.
Perhaps you would like the satellite to take pictures of the land (e.g., to detect crops or fires or even volumes of traffic); or the ocean (e.g., to track ships or whales) or perhaps you would like to measure the temperature of the planet; or suggest something completely different. You might also want to tell us what materials you think we should use in making the cubesat to reduce our impact on the environment. Should we use wood or metal or plastic? Should the material be heavy or light? Can you think of advantages of using different types of material?
And we’d like you to think up a name for the cubesat and the reason why you think the name is a good one!
All suggestions for the design of the cubesat will be stored on board as it orbits the Earth, so your ideas will literally be launched into space! Imagine how many miles your idea will travel every day as the cubesat orbits the Earth!
Our smart cubesat will use proven technologies to keep costs down and to minimise the time it takes to design, build and launch. By keeping it lightweight we will minimise the fuel needed to launch it into orbit. By using electronic and other components that already exist we will minimise the use of extra resources needed to build it – we will therefore use Components-Off-The-Shelf (also known as COTS). If you have ideas on how to keep the make the cubesat as environmentally friendly as possible please do let us know.
Our cubesat, or your cubesat as it will become if you help us design it, will consist of a number of key elements which are needed by all spacecraft:
▶ A lightweight support structure which holds all the spacecraft parts
▶ A computer to control all the functions of the spacecraft
▶ Solar panels to provide power and an electrical power system
▶ Antennae to allow the cubesat to communicate with people on the Earth
▶ Mechanisms to steer the spacecraft in orbit, to change where it points itself
▶ Sensors (such as a camera)
Keep an eye on these pages to see how your ideas are influencing the design and if you have new ideas in your school just fill in this form: