At the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in collaboration with leading experts in space technologies and employees of the GAO of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, students will create a project to create a payload model for a space satellite. What will it be and how will it help the space industry of Ukraine?
At the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in collaboration with leading experts in space technologies and employees of the GAO of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, students will create a project to create a payload model for a space satellite. What will it be and how will it help the space industry of Ukraine?
The first ideas for a space student project, namely a spectrometer for a satellite, were discussed during meetings at the school of astronomy and astrophysics for students, organized by the council of young scientists of the main astronomical observatory of the NAS of Ukraine, said Olena Kompaniets, a junior research associate and press secretary of the GAO NAS of Ukraine, at the press conference «The Future of Space Engineering in Ukraine» held at the «Media Center Ukraine».
According to her, the project has already started and lectures are currently underway, during which students receive a theoretical basis. After that, together with their scientific supervisors, they will begin direct practice. «And this is the peculiarity of the project: we give them exclusively the knowledge that they will use, in the future, to create real space technology,» noted Olena Kompaniets.
It is planned that the students will first create a prototype, but the NAS hopes that the project will develop further, and it will all end with the students launching their own satellite.
The students plan to work with an optical payload, in particular, a camera with a polarizing filter will be developed, which will allow the smallest details to be seen from the satellite.
According to Olena, the team cannot disclose the technical details and specifications of the project itself, as well as the details of what exactly the students will do, until the product is created and patented.
«We will use those properties of radiation that were not used by conventional remote sensing camera satellites. That is, our know-how will be image processing,» added Ivan Sinyavsky, head of the atmospheric optics and instrument-making department of the Main Astronomical Observatory.
The process of registering the public organization «Bee First» (from the word «bee») is currently underway, which will be a kind of platform for the implementation of projects in the space industry.
In the first phase of development, which has already begun and will last approximately six months, the students' goal is to create a payload mockup.
During the implementation of the second and third stages of project development, the participants plan to collaborate with other groups and institutions, expand the team, and directly create a space satellite on which a payload will be installed, which is planned to be launched into space in the future.
Students for the project were selected based on their existing knowledge, in particular, in physics, mathematics, programming and the ability to, for example, solder. On the other hand, as Ivan Sinyavsky noted, it was also important to take into account the involvement of the participants. That is why each of them was required to submit motivation letters describing why they wanted to participate in the project. In addition, each student was interviewed separately at the NAS.
Olena noted that the first stage of development of the space project does not concern a state order and, accordingly, the team did not seek separate state grants for it. The development is taking place thanks to funding from private individuals. For the development of the second and third stages, which will be developed according to plans in the long term, the participants will seek funds separately as a space startup.
The implementation of projects in the space industry, according to Ruslana Tulupova, head of the NGO «Agency for Extracurricular Education», will be of strategic importance for Ukraine. In particular, in the areas of economy, national security, communications, navigation, and information processing.
