Small Satellite Research Laboratory

UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory
SSRL
Established 2015 (2015)[1]
Research type Remote Sensing, Cube Satellite Development, Spectral Sensors
Field of research
 Small Satellites
Faculty Dr. David L. Cotten, Dr. Deepak Mishra [2]
Students Caleb Adams, Nicholas Neel, Khoa Ngo, Megan Le Corre, Graham Grable, Paige Copenhaver, Nirav Ilango, Adam King, Paul Hwang, S. Godfrey Hendrix[1]
Location Athens, Georgia
33°56′56″N 83°22′31″W / 33.948847°N 83.375237°W / 33.948847; -83.375237
30602
Campus University of Georgia
Affiliations University Nanosatellite Program
Website smallsat.uga.edu

The University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL), or UGA SSRL, was founded in late 2015 with the goal of launching a student-built spacecraft into low-earth orbit. The SSRL is building the University of Georgia's first two satellites and has a Space Act Agreement with the NASA Ames Research Center.[3][4]

Founding

Before the SSRL was formed, the founders originally started it as a space company in early 2015. This group participated in a UGA start-up accelerator program. Their product at the time, a large, remote-operated, 3D-printed telescope, found moderate success, but was ultimately overshadowed by their work with the SSRL. The Small Satellite Research Laboratory was founded in late 2015 by 3 undergraduate students, two of which were involved with the previous startup, at the University of Georgia after winning the Virginia Tech Hacks Hackathon and leaving their startup company.[5] The students originally intended to build a small spacecraft using money raised on Kickstarter, but the project quickly began to increase in complexity. The lab now works with NASA and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and is constructing two 3U cubesats for low earth orbit.[6] It should be noted that the students who founded the SSRL, which now consists of over 50 members, have kick-started a space program for the University of Georgia that did not exist before.[7] The UGA SSRL has stated that it plans to become the premier space program for the University of Georgia and push for a continual presence in space.[8] The UGA SSRL will be one of the first institutions from the state of Georgia to send a complete satellite into space.[9][10]

Cube Satellites

The Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC) Satellite

SPOC
Operator UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory
Major contractors Clyde Space, ISISpace
Mission type Climate Research
Homepage http://smallsat.uga.edu
Mass 3.99kg
Dimensions 10cm x 10cm x 34.5cm
Batteries 20Whr
Instruments
Hyperspectral Sensor
Spectral band 400nm - 900nm
References: [11][12]

The Spectral Ocean Color Satellite, known as the SPOC satellite, is a 3U CubeSat that will be the University of Georgia's first satellite.[13] The SPOC satellite was selected in by the NASA's Undergraduate Student Instrument Project and NASA's eight CubeSat Launch Initiative to be built in 2016-2018 and launched in 2018, 2019, or 2020.[10][14] SPOC is expected to be deployed from the International Space Station from the NanoRacks Cube-satellite Deployer.[13]

The primary objective of the SPOC Satellite mission is to perform the first moderate resolution multispectral analysis of the following phenomena off the Georgia coast from low earth orbit: vegetation heath, primary productivity, ocean productivity, near-coastal sediment, organic matter, and mapping the production of shelf waters and salt marshes. The SSRL also seeks to build a unique Georgia coastal imagery library that aggregates and classifies all gathered data from SPOC.[12] The SPOC mission's data will supplement the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research Program's data with data of Sapelo Island from orbit. The data sets generated by the SPOC satellite will be comparable to NASA's MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite from the spectral ranges of 450nm - 900nm.[11]

The Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager (MOCI) Satellite

MOCI
Operator UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory
Major contractors Clyde Space, Bright Ascension, ISISpace, GOMspace
Mission type Technology Demonstration
Homepage http://smallsat.uga.edu
Mass 3.99kg
Dimensions 10cm x 10cm x 34.5cm
Batteries 40WH
Instruments
CCD Imaging System
Spatial resolution 10m
References: [12]

The Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager Satellite, known as the MOCI satellite, is a 3U CubeSat that will be the University of Georgia's second satellite. The MOCI satellite was selected in the ninth iteration of the University Nanosatellite Program, UNP-9.[13] The primary mission of the MOCI satellite will be to perform structure from motion (SfM) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and generate 3D point clouds on a landscape scale to generate Digital Elevation Models. This will be the first time a CubeSat has specialized in building 3D models using structure from motion. MOCI will employ customize algorithms for feature extraction, structure from motion, surface reconstruction, data compression, and oceanic anomaly detection.

References

  1. 1 2 UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory Team and History
  2. ↑ Faculty of the UGA Center Geospatial Research Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Small Satellite Research Lab receives Space Act Agreement from NASA Ames Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Satellite Team Students attend Small Satellite Conference and have Program Management Review with the Air Force Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Looking to space". UGA. Retrieved 28 Feb 2017.
  6. ↑ "Enhancing STEM Education through CubeSats: Using Satellite Integration as a Teaching Tool at a Non-Tech School" (PDF). UGA. Retrieved 28 Feb 2017.
  7. ↑ "Students' satellites could launch space program for UGA". Athens Online. Retrieved 28 Feb 2017.
  8. ↑ UGA Small Satellite Research Lab plans launch for 2018
  9. ↑ Student group races against Georgia Tech to launch satellite into space
  10. 1 2 NASA Announces Eighth Class of Candidates for Launch of CubeSat Space Missions
  11. 1 2 The SPectral Ocean Color (SPOC) Small Satellite Mission: From Payload to Ground Station Development and Everything in Between
  12. 1 2 3 UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory Research
  13. 1 2 3 UGA team selected by NASA, Air Force to build and launch two cube satellites
  14. ↑ "NASA Selects Proposals for Student Flight Research Opportunities". NASA. Retrieved 27 Feb 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.