A team of Brown University students is a winner of the2024 Gizmodo Science Fairfor demonstrating an innovative and cost - good approach to artificial satellite design .
It normally take five to six years to build and launch a satellite , not to mention gazillion of dollar . Students at Rhode Island ’s Brown University show this does n’t always have to be the instance , completing a 445 - day satellite missionary post in August 2023 . They successfully build , launched , and tested a functional satellite using off - the - shelf components and 3D - printed parts , all within a year and on a minimal budget , showing the potential for affordable place accession and responsible deorbiting engineering science .
The question
What ’s the cheapest satellite that can be built using the gentle part ? And can such a satellite , fit with a drag sail for minimizing place junk , be construct and launched in just one year ?
The results
A small team of Brown University student , comprising both graduates and undergraduates , achieve a significant exploit last class by reconstruct an incredibly cost - effective 3U cubesat namedSBUDNIC . The satellite , a nervy nod to Sputnik and an acronym for the project ’s participant , launched to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on May 25 , 2022 , and a D - Orbit space tower moved the twist to its operational orbit .
The satellite be just $ 10,000 to build and included off - the - shelf factor , such as an Arduino Uno , four dozen Energizer AA batteries , some Kapton tape , a jambon radio , and a commercially available 3U frame ( 3U relate to a type of low satellite that fits within a exchangeable 3 - unit cubesat form factor ) . It also included many 3D - print parts , which is n’t normal for satellites , and a chassis forged in a auto shop class .
“ If you want to do something , like getting something to space , you do n’t want to have to rebuild the rack , ” say Dheraj Ganjikunta , lead program managing director . “ You do n’t postulate to reconstruct a reckoner or reconstruct the battery , right ? ”
Brown University engineer Marco Cross holding his pride and joy: SBUDNIC.Photo: Brown University
The SBUDNIC team was split into group , each handling a specific aspect of the satellite : the bodily structure , temperature ascendence , trailing and communication , magnate provision , data management , payload , radio system , and sphere control . SBUDNIC used an Arduino to bunk its command package in different ways at the same prison term , making sure it operated the right way .
The orbiter circulate Earth for well over a twelvemonth , working at an altitude of 323 mil ( 520 kilometers ) , higher than the International Space Station . The team did n’t receive any image or telemetry from the orbiter , which was a adult letdown , but SBUDNIC exceeded expected value when it come to its EL and celestial orbit control system . For this , the team created a drag sail from regular Kapton tape , and it shape remarkably well , lowering the cubesat far faster than forestall .
Why they did it
An early satellite from the university , called EQUiSat , execute 14,000 orbits of Earth before reentering the atmosphere four years ago ; the remainder between the two is that SBUDNIC was made almost entirely from materials not mean for use in blank . For this latest projection , the team aspired to reach one of the most speedy sketch - to - launch developments of a 3U cubesat .
Selia Jindal , one of the undertaking leads , said many of the challenge encountered during development were like to those brought on by the covid-19 pandemic . Numerous industries face interrupt supply chains and ended turbulence , leading to a heavy reliance on online operations . At the same time , it ’s clear that we are living in the geezerhood of billionaire space enthusiasts . Jindal and her co-worker wondered : “ Is quad something we can get at , and if so how , how can we do it in the face of all of these shortage ? ” she said . “ Can someone access infinite as a non - billionaire , or as someone without access to a GDP like NASA does with the United States ? And can low player really get in the plot , and if they can , how can they do it ? ”
consequently , the team strain to showcase a hard-nosed , cost - efficacious way of life to attain infinite — and , not contented to stop there , they attest a method of cut space debris .
© Vicky Leta/Gizmodo
Why they’re a winner
The SBUDNIC team designed and built a satellite within one year and tested a drag sail engineering . They also deserve reference for make the design open source : “ So if anybody wants to go out and build SBUDNIC 2.0 or whatever they can — that ’s the point , ” said Marco Cross , the project ’s chief engine driver . “ We ’ve break the path through the Baron Snow of Leicester so that somebody else can take the air a little bit easier down the line than we did , which was our goal from the start . ”
The drag sail tech is a decisive component part of spacecraft at a time when the spheric community seeks to keep down the amount of useless stuff in orbit ; more than 25,000 objects great than 4 inches ( 10 atomic number 96 ) are now zooming around above Earth , accordingto NASA . It often take decade for a dead satellite to fall back into the air , but puff sail have the potential difference to dramatically hasten this process , reducing the risk of infection of in - orbit collision .
Without the benefit of a puff sheet , it would have taken SBUDNIC roughly 25 to 27 twelvemonth to deorbit . But the $ 40 sail , made from Kapton polyimide film , brought that down dramatically . SBUDNIC bit the atmospheric dust on August 8 , 2023 , after just 445 24-hour interval in reach . The team call up it would take somewhere between six to seven age to send away .
SBUDNIC prior to launch. Image: Brown University
They also did the demand examination and keep abreast all the rules . For example , the squad take vacuum and vibration tests and used reptile heating lamps in a vacuum bedchamber to test the thermic shield they grow , which protected the artificial satellite ’s electronics from solar radiation . The labor “ ask some multitude to forge a lot to meet the deadline , because standards do n’t change , ” Ganjikunta explain , making billet of the software documentation and testing necessity . “ All that clobber is the same for scholar orbiter or prominent satellite operators with billion - one dollar bill budget , ” he added .
What’s next
Now , they intend to present their findings at league , submit data to publication , and devise a series of presentations in schools throughout Rhode Island .
“ We ’re currently ramp up an open - source database for our project stuff , ” say Ganjikunta . “ We ’re still sanitizing and ensuring favorable reception for public firing . Once available , this will permit open access to our examination data point and orbiter code . ”
thwart now assist with teaching the class where it all began , helping Brown University prof Rick Fleeter in dish out and educational activity . Cross say he ’s inspired by the fact that , over the old age , many student from this course of instruction have pursued careers in the space industriousness .
The team
Click here to see all of thewinners of the 2024 Gizmodo Science Fair .
low-cost satellitesCubeSatsGizmodo Science Fairspace accessSpace engineering
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