Preparation begins for systems and management reviews

As the team works to finish subsystem reports and testing, the dates for the key events concluding the Lunchsat programme for this year have been finalised.

Senior and line management have been invited to attend the events, which aim to gather the Lunchsat team, management and interested internal parties for a briefing on the progress made over the past twelve months.

The details of the final sessions scheduled for this year are as follows:

Afternoon Session: Thursday 8 July

Another of the standard afternoon work sessions to conclude work in preparation for the upcoming reviews. Work shall begin on the presentations required for the reviews.

Subsystem Reviews: Monday 19 to Tuesday 27 July

Separate technical review sessions allowing Astrium experts to meet with their respective subsystem team members, for the review of documents and results attained over the year.

Afternoon Session: Thursday 22 July

The final afternoon session of the year, scheduled for preparation of the Systems Review.

Systems Review: Wednesday 28 July

A videoconference between Portsmouth and Stevenage will allow the Lunchsat team to connect for a round-table review with Astrium systems experts. The experts will share their opinions and advice for the team following presentations from subsystem team members.

Management Review: Friday 27 August

The annual End-of-Year Management Review, concluding the Lunchsat graduate training programme in the Stevenage Viewing Gallery. In a slightly different approach to the session, project lead Nick Fishwick is set to deliver the presentation to management, summarising the benefits of the programme and the progress made over the past year and looking for inputs from team members to describe their experiences. Astrium senior management, including Chief Technical Officer Pat Wood, are set to attend. A team lunch will be organised to conclude the programme and celebrate the achievements of the team.

The End-of-Year Management Review signals the conclusion of Lunchsat progress for 2009-10. Stay tuned as preparation begins for the upcoming 2010-11 session!

Third lecture continues successful Space Systems series

The third session of the Space Systems lecture series has been delivered to the Lunchsat teams in Portsmouth and Stevenage via videoconference, this time on the subject of AOCS (the Attitude and Orbit Control System).

The guest speaker was Astrium AOCS expert Mark Watt, who delivered a half-hour session and answered the questions that followed from enthusiastic members of the team. The lecture gave a general introduction to the AOCS subsystem, discussing both the concept of Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC, of which AOCS is a subset), and different mission types that illustrated the subsystem. This was consolidated by a look at case studies focussing on three current and future space exploration missions: the Lisa Pathfinder, the MoonLITE penetrator and the ExoMars Rover.

Guidance computes the desired trajectory between two states as a function of time and constraints, and may be translational or attitudinal. Navigation receives inputs from sensors (such as gyrometers, accelerometers, star/Sun/Earth sensors, magnetometers, GPS) and computes them to return an estimated state of the spacecraft. Control computes the commands from actuators (such as magnetorquers, control gyros and thrusters), based on the difference between the estimated and guidance-provided states.

AOCS is a required subsystem in spacecraft engineering, and an integral part in the telecommunication and scientific spacecraft, Earth observation satellites and multi-mission microsatellites of today.

The recent series of 'Space Systems' lectures have been organised for the new graduates on the Graduate Development Programme of EADS Astrium, to allow a wider appreciation of the various areas and applications of spacecraft design as part of their experience on the Lunchsat microsatellite and Campus Management outreach initiatives.

Previous lectures have focused on antennas and the thermal, mechanical and on-board computer (OBC) subsystems. For further details of the content of these sessions and for more information on the initiative, check out the Training section of the Lunchsat website.

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.