Promising Future Directions beyond Education for University Nano-Satellites Projects
- Paper number
IAC-05-E1.4.07
- Author
Ms. Rei Kawashima, UNISEC, Japan
- Coauthor
Prof. Shinichi Nakasuka, University of Tokyo, Japan
- Coauthor
Prof. Tetsuo Yasaka, Kyushu University, Japan
- Year
2005
- Abstract
One of new powerful players in Japanese space development certainly is university students. There were three epoch-making events to initiate the change. These three events include Satellite Design Contest, CanSat projects, and CubeSat projects, respectively started in 1990, 1998, and 1999. Especially, the success of two CubeSats developed by the students at University of Tokyo and Tokyo Institute of Technology greatly changed university student perception of their possible contribution to the space development. The confidence based on real success generated positive spiral, and more than 20 Japanese universities currently participated in student space projects including hybrid rocket projects. UNISEC (University Space Engineering Consortium) was formed to facilitate these activities in 2002, and has contributed to solving common difficulties such as legal, technical, financial problems as well as organizing workshops symposia and conferences. After five years continuous efforts focusing educational purpose, new trend seems to emerge in university satellite projects. These new projects are characterized as having collaborative purposes with researchers of science and astronomy. The change of purpose will dramatically increase responsibility and influence of the projects. University satellite projects have proved that there will be new approach for space development with less cost and shorter duration of development. Considered the impact, it can be said that the future directions of university satellite projects will be open to new paths beyond education. In this paper, we will present three possible scenarios to describe future directions of university nano-satellite projects. Scenario 1) Education Focus The Educational purpose will be emphasized in University satellite projects. The focus of the projects is to bring up excellent future engineers in space field. “Education, first” should be kept in mind, and every decision will be made for the purpose to develop excellent human resources. Other attempts and possibilities are extended from this point. Scenario 2) Collaborative Growth The scope of University Satellite projects will expand and more scientists and researchers and engineers in other fields will participate in the projects with clear goals. They are not only clients, but also are collaborative developers. University satellite project teams and these research oriented participants will collaborate with each other to pursue a project. Scenario 3) Commercial Market Development University Satellite projects will be sophisticated to become commercially available. Reasonable costs and short duration of development will attract many clients including those who have never thought about space business. This paper will briefly describe the background and status-quo of university satellite projects in Japan, and consider the future scenarios with benefits and obstacles, followed by discussion of UNISEC’s roles. Discussion will reflect the results of a survey based on questionnaires, which will be conducted to uncover potential needs of scientists, researchers, and those who want to use easy access to space.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-E1.4.07.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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