Overview
The CubeSTAR project is a student satellite project at University of Oslo (UiO) in Norway. The project was initiated in December 2008 by the Department of Physics at UiO and the Norwegian Centre for Space-related Education (NAROM) with financial support from the Norwegian Space Center(NSC).
The CubeSTAR is a nano-satellite built after the Cubesat standard. Cubesat is a satellite standard developed by California Polytechnic University (Calpoly) and Standford University in 1999. The standard specifies
a mechanical structure with the physical dimensions, 10x10x10cm, with a maximum weight up to 1.33kg. The structure is designated as a "1U".
The CubeSTAR will be built as a "2U", which means that the satellites physical dimensions will be 10x10x20cm and the total weight will be no more than 2.66 kg.
The satellite will be launched in 2013 into an polar orbit where it will be performing measurments over the artic regions.
CubeSTAR contains several subsystems which fulfills various tasks:
- Electronic Power System, collects and distributes power to the satellite
- Communication system, maintains a communication link with a ground station
- Attitude Determination and Control system, controls the attitude of the satellite
- On-Board Controller, collects housekeeping data and maintains control of the satellite
The project is divided into six work groups, one for each of the satellite subsystems and a project management team. The technical groups are managed by students, where the work is mainly performed through master thesis. The students are responsible for developing the various systems and solving all the technical aspects of the project, but will receive support from the staff from the faculty (project leader, technical and scientific advisers), the electronic workshop and the mechanical workshop.
The annual ANSAT workshop was held at the Andoya Rocket Range (ARR) from 19-20. june.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) held a cubesat seminar to introduce the work being performed on their student satellite project NUTS. Three CubeSTAR students attended the seminar to learn about the NUTS and exchange information and experience with the other students.
In late January, five students from the University of Oslo attended the 1st IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions and Cubesat Workshop held in Rome.