Hands On Space Educational Activities at University of Nottingham

Abstract

The University of Nottingham launched the aerospace engineering programme in 2016. Four different courses are offered at both BEng and MEng levels with the BEng consisting of three taught years and MEng consisting of four.Space educational activities at University of Nottingham are mainly concentrated in offering hands-on experiences to students. Students at different levels, starting from the 2nd year, are involved in the design of space systems, mainly CubeSat standard compatible, that will be implemented and boarded in a small satellite.The main educational project is dedicated to the design and analysis of the first space mission from University of Nottingham. The idea is to use a CubeSat platform and implement a payload of interests for students and researchers at University of Nottingham. At this phase several payloads are under evaluation. The students are supported by a board of staff members involved in different space activities from biomedical research in space to earth observation to the use and application of GNSS. Once identified the mission that will be carried out the student will be involved in all the mission phases, from the design to the launch and in orbit operation. A dedicated ground station will be installed at University of Nottingham in order to be able to track and receive satellites in UHF, VHF and S band.In addition, to implement student experiences and have soon the opportunity to see the first system designed at University of Nottingham in space, several international cooperation have been made with European partners, such as University of Beira Interior and CEIIA in Portugal, and non-European partners such as, for example, University of Brasilia in Brazil. The goal of these cooperation is not only share knowledge and experiences between teams but also launch opportunities and future opportunities.As part of the educational project the students are also involved in balloon projects, where the systems will be tested using High Altitude Balloon. Next balloon mission is planned to be launched in November 2019.The paper gives an overview of all the most interesting space educational activities involving students at University of Nottingham giving particular attention also to the improvement that will be done in the existing facilities in order to have a more effective Space Systems Educational Laboratory.