“LunchSat”, a training programme for young professionals in EADS Astrium to build a nano-satellite

Paper number

IAC-10.E1.7.5

Author

Mr. Nicholas Fishwick, Astrium UK, United Kingdom

Coauthor

Dr. Ronan Wall, Astrium UK, United Kingdom

Year

2010

Abstract

The “LunchSat” training programme was started in the UK satellites division of EADS
Astrium to provide young professionals at the start of their career the opportunity to
design, build and test their own nano-satellite. The activity is performed alongside
their day-to-day jobs and it delivers a complete overview of the whole process of
making satellites. It is a unique programme within space industry prime contractors
for further dynamic education of new entrants to the space industry, which promotes
both links to universities as payload providers and contributes to the award winning
Astrium outreach programme. The LunchSat project clearly increases the appeal of
Astrium and the space industry to graduates as it provides early experience of real
flight hardware and the critical problem solving required to launch and operate a
satellite, which can then be applied to other larger missions.

LunchSat is a three unit Cube-Sat, based on the University of Toronto Institute for
Aerospace Studies successful CanX-2 mission. The satellite is scheduled to be flight
ready in 2012 and it is envisaged that it will piggy-back with a large commercial
Astrium satellite. LunchSat has a monochrome CMOS imager and other payloads
are being currently selected. The platform will be used as a technology demonstrator
for Astrium internal developments and has space reserved for science experiments
from UK universities. Two ground stations have been commissioned at both the
Portsmouth and Stevenage Astrium UK sites which will be used to control the
satellite. The ground stations can also be used for Astrium in-orbit satellite operator
training and provide outreach opportunities to local school children.

LunchSat fulfils its programmatic objectives by providing the team members with a
complete understanding of the design, development and implementation cycle of a
complete satellite programme within a short timescale, as well as letting them work
with real hardware and test constraints. Building a Cube-Sat within a large space
prime contractor has allowed for use of a wide range of facilities and access to senior
engineers’ experience. The programme also lets the young professionals take
responsibility for managing entire satellite systems many years before they would
normally do so during their careers.

This paper discusses the implementation, logistics and educational benefits of the
Astrium “LunchSat“ training programme for young professionals starting their careers
in space. Such a programme could be applied to other space prime contractors to
facilitate the training of the next generation of senior space engineers.

Abstract document

IAC-10.E1.7.5.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-10.E1.7.5.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.