Second lecture continues Space Systems series

The second in the series of Space Systems lectures was given today by Tim Ecclestone, one of the Mechanical Engineers at Astrium in Stevenage.

The lecture on spacecraft structures was delivered to the two enthusiastic Lunchsat and Campus Management teams in Stevenage and to Portsmouth via video link.

Opportunity to attend IAC 2010 announced

An opportunity for three members of the Lunchsat team to attend the 2010 International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Prague has been announced.

Three papers are to be submitted to the IAC, one on Lunchsat as a training programme by project lead Nick Fishwick and two technical papers written by team individuals.

Nick is calling for ideas for abstracts this week, to gauge interest from the Lunchsat community. The abstracts are then to be written by 5 March for submission to the IAC committee. Based on a final decision from the IAF, a panel of representatives from Lunchsat management, Human Resources, Public Relations and ACR will then select to fund two members to write their papers and attend the conference in September, based on their previous merits and dedication to the Lunchsat project.

For further details of this year's conference, visit the website of the International Astronautical Congress which is organised by the International Astronautical Federation. IAC2010 runs from 27 September to 1 October in Prague.

Licensed to CQ: groundstation team pass Amateur Radio course

After a rollercoaster weekend of getting to grips with the principles of radio and Paul Steed, our groundstation guys passed their Foundation exam in Amateur Radio. In doing so, these members of the Lunchsat team are now licensed to transmit from a groundstation at a maximum power of 10W.

In a nod towards the radio exam success of yesteryear, Matthew Ashworth (Portsmouth Groundstation), Timothy Mead (Power), Mauricio Molas Serrano (Portsmouth Groundstation), Jason Stones (Media) and Benjamin Yarwood (Mechanical) all passed the exam, demonstrating proficiency in Morse code, groundstation hardware, the etiquette of transmission, the terms of the Amateur Radio license, and the physics of radio communications.

It followed a two-day introduction to Amateur Radio held on the final weekend in January, which saw the group of five radio hopefuls:

• send messages in Morse code with Navy transmitters that were actually used in World War II (check);
  
• transmit to another radio amateur from a groundstation in proper radio etiquette and with the use of callsigns (check);
  
• learn the physics involved in telecommunications (check);
  
• watch a cheesy educational video made by BT from the eighties (check).

All in a weekend's work. So what does all this mean for Lunchsat?

Once work on the Portsmouth groundstation is completed with Foundation licenses in hand, the team will be able to communicate with other satellites via radio groundstations around the world. With an Intermediate license, scope for transmission will extend to 50W, to allow for communication with the International Space Station -- one of the outreach goals of the Lunchsat project!

Paul Steed, a member of St Johns Ambulance, reprised his role as tutor for the two-day course -- held on his home turf in the humble abode of SJA in Waterlooville, a few junctions north of Portsmouth on the A3.

Not fazed in the slightest at the prospect of yet more radio goodness, Ben, Tim, Andrew and Jason are set to head towards the next frontier -- the Intermediate course -- on the weekend of 20-21 February. Lucky devils.

The Radio Society of Great Britain offers such two-day training courses in Amateur Radio across the country -- check out their website for details of courses available in your region. Radio spectrum in the UK is regulated by Ofcom, which issues and regulates Amateur Radio licenses. For further information and to get involved in the global Amateur Radio community, check out the Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD).

Problems with OBC startup issue resolved

A faulty power regulator is to blame for the recent problems had in starting up the on-board computer (OBC).


Matthew Ashworth and Andrew White travelled from Portsmouth to the Lunchsat lab in Stevenage to work alongside the OBC and Imager teams to identify the power regulator at the root of the problem. A replacement has now been ordered, alongside a new power surge protector and fixed voltage power supply, for installation next week -- when further testing will take place to ensure the problem is not being caused by other subsystems and that the new equipment minimises stress on the new regulator.

More satellite design work and testing hours will be required over February to ensure the project remains on schedule. Results of hardware testing are to be published in advance of the upcoming Review sessions, to be held with technical experts and senior management.

The OBC startup issue should be resolved by early February. The Mid-Term Review with technical experts is scheduled for early March; the End-of-Year Review with management is set to conclude progress mid-June.

Lunchsat documentation now standardised

Having recently been tasked with the implementation of a new document system, Systems has delivered it. Documents can now be stored and referenced through new processes and controls, ushering in a new era of standardisation for Lunchsat.

Having first designed a new document template for all Lunchsat documentation based on the Astrium corporate guidelines, members of the System subsystem team proceeded to design the new handling system, headed up by subsystem lead Graham Johnson.

Fatou Mbaye has drafted a unique reference system of document identification codes which is now in immediate effect. Newly configured documents are stored in the Lunchsat Portal, an internal collaboration environment for the sharing of knowledge and information on the Lunchsat project.

First Space Systems lecture a success

The first lecture of the new Space Systems lecture series was held for the Lunchsat and Campus Management initiative teams of EADS Astrium earlier today, and was a success based on the high turnout and interest in the subject.

Members of both teams enthusiastically engaged with the speaker of the first topic 'On-Board Computing for Spacecraft', which promoted awareness of computational requirements not just for a microsatellite such as Lunchsat, but also for spacecraft in general.

Space places limitations on electronics technology in terms of mass, power and volume as the harsh environment applies mechanical and thermal stress to spacecraft components. Radiation from space is a major consideration for software, as ionization can flip the bits in binary code which could result in the failure of the OBC and other electronic devices. The damaging effects of this radiation can be mitigated by heavy shielding of the OBC inside the spacecraft. Striking the right balance is a tricky affair: faster processors can become hotter by consuming more power, whereby smaller ones are more susceptible to the effects of radiation.

The lecture went on to present examples of on-board processing currently being developed -- including the data management, payload data handling and visual processing units of the Gaia spacecraft, which aims to survey a billion stars in five years.

For more details and the full presentation, visit the new Training section of our Lunchsat website.

Space Systems lecture series begins

The project manager of Lunchsat, Nick Fishwick has teamed up with Jessica Housden of Campus Management, the other graduate initiative of EADS Astrium, to organise a series of lectures about space systems engineering.

These internal lectures, part of the Space Systems series for Lunchsat and Campus Management, aims to connect the two teams with experts in the field to supplement graduate training and facilitate knowledge transfer between the two graduate initiatives.

The lunchtime sessions are to occur for both teams on the second Thursday of each month from now until July, 13:00 - 13:30 with each aiming to cover one of seven topics about space system engineering, the basic foundation for microsatellite development.

The schedule is set to cover the OBC and Software (January), Mechanical (February), Antennas and RF (March), Payload (April), Thermal (May), Propulsion (June) and ADCS (July).

Project lead reflects on 2009 progress

Lunchsat project lead Nick Fishwick has today issued a statement to his team, reflecting progress made in the project throughout 2009.


In an email to all 43 members of the Lunchsat team, Nick gave his congratulations and 'thanks for all the hard work over the last few months'.

"The project is coming along well with real results, such as Systems producing an updated release of the Payload Interface Document which will be critical for getting new payloads and all subsystems have made good advances. On the hardware side, we have power tests ready to go and work planned on both groundstations.


"Due to the feedback from last year, we are communicating better with experts inside and outside the company (such as the Bepi Project Manager, AMSAT, Queen Mary Uni) and the blog is going and we are being tweeted about by Clyde Space [a large Cubesat company in Scotland].


"There have been some setbacks but that is normal for any programme no matter the size and so we should take this as an opportunity to show that we can overcome and solve such problems. We have a plan in place to solve the OBC power-up issue and this will be the highest priority in the New Year."


Visit the Lunchsat website news archives for more Project Management team communications.

Latest from the Project Management focus team

The Lunchsat Project Management focus team recently issued its latest actions to scope upcoming work packages for the subsystems and classify activities from current progress to the 2012 launch.

Subsystem leads are to supervise the extension of subsystem work package descriptions for completion by February; descriptions for each are to be released on our website pages to assist in the definition of each subsystem.

Those involved are Nick Fishwick (Project Management and Power), Stephen Pulker (On-Board Computer and Imager), Natasha Pushkin (Thermal and ADCS), Alex Buick (Operations and Payload), Jason Stones (Media and Communications), Fatou Mbaye (Systems and Mechanical) and Nicolas Sarda (Groundstations).

The focus team also arrived at a complete schedule that defines Lunchsat activity from present to the future launch. Three work packages are to be defined per subsystem for assignment to each of the three Lunchsat phases that have since been defined (1-3); these are detailed in turn (A-E):

Phase 1: Design and Analysis, October 2009 to September 2010
Phase 2: Testing and Pre-Launch, October 2010 to December 2011
Phase 3: Launch and Operations, 2012

Phase A: Detailed Definition, Manufacturing and Testing (GDP Year 1), October 2009 to August 2010
Phase B: Detailed Definition, Manufacturing and Testing (GDP Year 2), October 2010 to June 2011
Phase C: System Level Integration and Testing, July to December 2011
Phase D: Pre-Launch Activities and Launch, January to June 2012
Phase E: In-Orbit Commissioning and Operations, July to December 2012

The Lunchsat website now features details of our complete schedule.

Operations and launch: two giant leaps for Lunchsat

In having commissioned a new Operations subsystem to handle the management of post-launch attitude and maintenance of our nanosatellite, the next step in getting Lunchsat into space is to prepare it for launch readiness!

Representatives from the new Operations subsystem and key subsystem leads met this morning in a videoconference between Astrium's Stevenage and Portsmouth sites to discuss the next major stage in the Lunchsat project – launch. Present at the meeting were Alex Buick (Operations), Fatou Mbaye (Systems), Jason Stones (Media), Stephen Pulker (Project Management, OBC) and Natasha Pushkin (Thermal), alongside project manager Nick Fishwick and project champion Ronan Wall.

Over the next month, this team will compile a comprehensive report to present to Astrium management, detailing the options available in four possible launch scenarios. As such, the report is to address the available launchers and options for the Lunchsat payload, forecasted schedules, prospective team involvement and the budget allocations required to support each option. These areas are to be defined in the four separate scenarios foreseeing launch within one year; three years with Pathfinder; three years without Pathfinder; and five years, respectively. 'Not launching is not an option', emphasised project lead Nick Fishwick.

It is currently envisaged for Lunchsat to become flight-ready sometime in 2011 post-testing, in order to piggyback on a ride with the Lisa Pathfinder when the space science mission is launched into space on an Ariane 5 rocket in 2012. This is deemed a strong possibility – particularly given both the financial infeasibility to use a dedicated launcher, and the potential compatibility of the Pathfinder launch window with Lunchsat as a Cubesat, as the payloads of previously launched Cubesats have taken between 9 months and two years to build.

The Operations focus group aims to compare the parameters of our Lunchsat mission with those of others – Aeolus, KaSAT, Astra 1M, Hylas and ExoMars – by liaising with their project managers to assess the true logistics of launch.

Additionally, the report aims to assess the prospective advantageous outputs from Lunchsat once the nanosatellite is launched. These include strengthened public relations through enhanced visibility between Astrium and the wider community, the establishment of Operations training to maintain the satellite in orbit, lessons learned from our first attempt and accelerated technology development in collaboration with our partners in the wider Cubesat Research Network (CRN), if work begins on a second Lunchsat nanosatellite in the longer-term.

As part of Operations requirements, we have entered the process of researching possible worldwide launch sites and configuration scenarios. As Lunchsat will be launched into equatorial orbit, feasible spaceports include Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (NASA), Guyana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guyana (ESA), Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (RKA) and the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at Tanegashima, Japan (JAXA), among others.

A review of cost assessment and related contacts for launch scenarios at each of these sites will be included in the Lunchsat Launch Report, to be released in the New Year.