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Some fascinating technology news recently came to my attention regarding the Space Program. For the past few years, a national University Nanosatellite Program competition has been held between university engineering groups; the goal of which is to design the hardware and software necessary to operate a nano or microsatellite, then build an operational model from the ground up. The competition operates on a judging system, where individual college’s designs are pitted against each other; the results are judged by the Air Force Research Lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate, the AF Office of Scientific Research, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The 4th Round (Nanosat-4) recently finished in April of this year, with Cornell University emerging as the victor. This means their satellite will be launched by NASA for evaluations, and a possible shot at actual mission operations.
There are two pieces of interesting news here: That college students are being afforded the opportunity to build hardware that may just well make it’s way into orbit, and that nanosatellites are really picking up steam, developmentally. To give a crash course in nanosatellites, while the name implies microscopic or incredibly small, these platforms generally range from 45-220 lbs. While that may not seem microscopic, keep in mind traditional satellites can weigh as much as 30,000 lbs. (considered a “heavy load” by NASA), so a satellite that can be carried by two people is incredibly reduced in mass and volume, and all of the restrictions associated with those characteristics.
This also brings up other possibilities. While micro and nanosatellites are incredibly small, they have their own unique benefits and weaknesses. For one, a satellite the fraction of the size of traditional satellites doesn’t have the same functionality as it’s predecessor, although it can do new tasks, such as observing other satellites in mid-orbit or networking across multiple-think 20 or more-satellites for data gathering and analysis.
Personally, however, the coolest part to me, as an engineering student, is that I may just well be on one of the future competetion teams designing new nanosatellites for NASA and the Air Force. As part of the competitions, the Air Force also gave out $100,000 grants to the participating teams, getting them started with much-needed hardware and resources, so you would just have to show up with your intelligence to participate.
Doing some more searching for micro and nanosatellites revealed that, while such an idea is relatively new, many engineering colleges are dedicating resources to develop concepts and hardware such as what Cornell University came up with, so it’s sure to be an exciting and dynamic field for the future. With some of the unique and beneficial benefits to microsatellites, it’s no surprise that colleges and organizations are jumping on the bandwagon, yet this is definitely some technology that has room to grow; as such, I’m definitely keeping my eye on this from now on.
Picture courtesy of: National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
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