Further training opportunities to come

In the wake of a run of successful Amateur Radio training events, another course is being formulated that could provide an ideal opportunity for Lunchsatters to broaden their skillsets.

The course, 'In-Orbit Test Basics for Payload Engineers (IOTBPAL)' is currently being organised as an Astrium internal training opportunity which, if it is to run, would make use of the Lunchsat groundstation equipment and technology in Portsmouth. The good news arrives as Astrium sets to increase its in-orbit testing on Lunchsat ground infrastructure for the future.

Watch this space...

Stevenage team passes Amateur Radio course

Following the successes of the Portsmouth team, Lunchsat project members based in Stevenage have now also passed their Foundation exam in Amateur Radio. Both teams are now licensed to transmit from the Portsmouth and Stevenage groundstations.

Congratulations to Nicolas Sarda (Stevenage Groundstation), Martin Garland (Payload: Imager), Goodwell Kapfunde (Stevenage Groundstation), Chris Lord (ADCS) and Thomas Stuttard (Systems, Power) for passing the exam, demonstrating their proficiency in the techniques of Amateur Radio communication.

With Foundation licenses now in hand, the Lunchsat teams in Portsmouth and Stevenage will be able to communicate with each other, as well as satellites via radio groundstations around the world. Watch this space for exclusive news of the first inter-site Lunchsat radio transmission!

The Radio Society of Great Britain offers 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).

Abstracts submitted for IAC 2010

Today, several members of the Lunchsat team submitted abstracts to the International Astronautical Federation, the international space-advocacy organisation that recently made a call for papers for its annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

The IAC invites professionals from across the global space community to convene and share knowledge and ideas. This year's 61st IAC will run for a week in Prague with the theme 'space for human benefit and exploration' from 27 September. The abstracts covered topics such as operations and workforce development.

Christopher Lord (ADCS), Jason Stones (Media), Mauricio Molas Serrano (Portsmouth Groundstation) and Thomas Stuttard (Systems, Power), together with project lead Nick Fishwick (Project Management) and the guidance of project champion Ronan Wall, have all submitted abstracts to introduce potential papers that, if selected, will be written for and presented at the IAC conference from 27 September.

Christopher Lord: 'Implications of Passive Magnetic Attitude Control for a Cube-Sat'
B4.3 Small Satellite Missions Symposium -- Small Sat Operations

Jason Stones: 'The Potential of Innovative Outreach from Cube-Sat Programmes'
E1.4 Space Education and Outreach Symposium -- New Worlds, Innovative Space Education and Outreach

Mauricio Molas Serrano: 'Assessment of Amateur Radio in the Cube-Sat Community'
E1.2 Space Education and Outreach Symposium -- On Track: Undergraduate and Postgraduate Space Education

Thomas Stuttard: 'Systems Engineering, Operations and Payload Interfacing in Cube-Sats'
B4.6 Small Satellite Missions Symposium -- Design and Technology for Nano-Sats and Cube-Sats

Nick Fishwick: A Training Programme for Young Professionals in EADS Astrium to Build a Nano-Satellite'
E1.7 Space Education and Outreach Symposium -- Space Workforce Development: Challenges and Opportunities

Applicants nominated by the IAF to present their abstract will be notified on 26 April. Those successful will then be invited to write the paper and present it at the Prague IAC event in September.

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.

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).