Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU) recently hosted its International Summer Space School, titled “Advanced space technology and experiments: From idea to nano-satellite mission.”

According to the Russian newspaper, Volga Commune, “For two weeks, students from Italy, the United States, Portugal, Japan, Romania, Mexico, Colombia, Kazakhstan and Russia worked together develop their own nanosatellites.”

A nano-satellite (or nanosat) is a device with a wet mass of up to 10kg (or 22 pounds). It may be launched individually or, in some cases in “swarms” of multiple nanosats. Here’s a quick introduction:

Samara News: Creating Nano-satellites with Creo

By In the Press | Published: Aug 2, 2015

Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU) recently hosted its International Summer Space School, titled “Advanced space technology and experiments: From idea to nano-satellite mission.”

According to the Russian newspaper, Volga Commune, “For two weeks, students from Italy, the United States, Portugal, Japan, Romania, Mexico, Colombia, Kazakhstan and Russia worked together develop their own nanosatellites.”

A nano-satellite (or nanosat) is a device with a wet mass of up to 10kg (or 22 pounds). It may be launched individually or, in some cases in “swarms” of multiple nanosats. Here’s a quick introduction:

In this year’s summer school, global students attending the Russian school listened to lectures and participated in practical exercises, studying the design of spacecraft, flight mechanics, and motion control systems.

Teams then worked on their own nano-satellites, determining requirements, calculating the energy needs of the communication channels and the mass of the satellite, selecting components, and then creating the 3D model with Creo.

Erin Griggs, PhD, University of Colorado, led one project during this summer’s courses that used remote sensing to study atmospheric density and create imaging with a nanosatellite. According to team participants, such a device can monitor the Earth’s atmosphere and then transmit images and scientific information back to the Earth’s surface.

“In SSAU I met a new part of the space industry, which I had not previously encountered,” says Griggs. “I usually work with large spacecraft, but here we studied nanosatellites, and it was very interesting to try in a short time to develop a project in this class of spacecraft.”

Read the full Volga Commune story. It’s in Russian, but it’s easy to understand with Google Translate.

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