Future small spacecraft: science and engineering opportunities

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• Dr Tim Horbury, Physics Dept.
• Thursday 08 October 2009, 14:00-15:00
• Lecture room, 509.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Eric C Kerrigan.

Abstract:

Space represents a unique location from which to do science, observe the Earth and test new devices in a hostile environment. However,launch costs, which are proportional to mass, are very high. New developments in miniaturised technologies have made it possible to build a functional spacecraft in just a few kilograms: this, combined with the new, standardised CubeSat structure and deployment system, make it possible to launch a 3kg, 30cm-long spacecraft for around £150k, bringing spaceflight within the budget of a University.

CubeSats have been built and launched by several Universities worldwide, with many benefits: student learning, outreach, and technology demonstrations. The Space and Atmospheric Physics Group would like to flight-prove our new miniaturised science-grade magnetic field sensor, which has applications for landers on the moons of the outer planets, but which can also do world-class science in low Earth orbit. We have flight opportunities for this sensor on upcoming CubeSat missions, but also see the potential for an entire CubeSat built at Imperial: across the College there is expertise in all necessary engineering areas. In cooperation with Aeronautics, we have run several student projects with summer on CubeSat-related subjects.

I will describe the basics of CubeSats, the current status of CubeSats across the world, and what is required to build a functioning spacecraft. I will also discuss the current state of progress at Imperial College, and the opportunities fo r others to get involved.

This talk is part of the Featured talks series.

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• Andrea Picciau's list
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• COMMSP Seminar
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