University Nanosatellite Program

The University Nanosat Program is a satellite design and fabrication competition for universities. It is jointly administered by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Space Development and Test Wing and the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate's Spacecraft Technology division.^[1] NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was involved from the program inception through Nanosat-3. The sixth iteration of the competition was completed in January 2011 with the selection of the Michigan Technological University's Oculus-ASR as the winner.^[2]

Previous winners of the competition were Cornell University's Cornell University Satellite (CUSat),^[3] University of Texas at Austin's Formation Autonomy Spacecraft with Thrust, Relnav, Attitude, and Crosslink (FASTRAC) for Nanosat-3^[4] and the joint 3 Corner Satellite (3CS) project by the University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State University and New Mexico State University for Nanosat-2.^[5] As of February 2011, the 3CS spacecraft^[6] and FASTRAC^[7] have launched.

The program’s objective is to train tomorrow’s space professionals by providing a rigorous two year concept to flight-ready spacecraft competition for U. S. higher education institutions and to enable small satellite research and development (R&D), integration and flight test. Approximately 4500 college students and 27 institutions of higher learning have been involved in this unique experience since its inception in 1999.

Participants^[8]

Nanosat-1/Nanosat-2 Arizona State University: Sparkie (3CornerSat) 1st place - group Stanford University: Emerald and Orion Santa Clara University: Emerald and Orion New Mexico State University: Petey (3CornerSat) 1st place - group Boston University: Constellation Pathfinder Carnegie Mellon University: Solar Blade Nanosat University of Colorado at Boulder: Ralphie (3CornerSat) 1st place - group Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: HokieSat University of Washington: DAWGSTAR Utah State University: USUSat Nanosat-4 Cornell University: CUSat 1st place New Mexico State University: NMSUSat 2 Santa Clara University: ONYX Texas A&M University: AggieSat1 University of Central Florida: KNIGHTSAT University of Cincinnati: BEARSat University of Minnesota: MinneSAT University of Missouri-Rolla: UMR SAT 3rd place University of Texas at Austin: ARTEMIS Utah State University: TOROID Washington University in St. Louis: Akoya and Bandit 2nd place Nanosat-6 Cornell University: Violet 2nd place University of Central Florida: KnightSat 2 Montana State University: SpaceBuoy University of Hawaii at Manoa: Ho'oponopono 3rd place Santa Clara University: IRIS Missouri University of Science and Technology: MR & MRS SAT Michigan Technological University: Oculus-ASR 1st place University of Minnesota: TwinSat Georgia Institute of Technology: R^3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology: CASTOR Saint Louis University: COPPER Nanosat-8 Boston University: ANDESITE 5th place (tie) Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: ARAPAIMA Georgia Institute of Technology: RECONSO 3rd place New Mexico State University: INCA Taylor University: ELEO-Sat 4th place University at Buffalo, The State University of New York: GLADOS 5th place (tie) University of California, Los Angeles: ELFIN University of Colorado Boulder: PolarCube 2nd place University of Florida: CHOMPTT Missouri University of Science and Technology: MR & MRS SAT 1st place

[9] Nanosat-3 Arizona State University Michigan Technological University: HuskySat 3rd place Montana State University: MAIA New Mexico State University: NMSUSat Penn State University: LionSat Taylor University: TEST 2nd place University of Colorado at Boulder: DINO University of Hawaii at Manoa: Twin Stars University of Michigan: FENIX Utah State University: USUSat II The University of Texas at Austin: FASTRAC 1st place Washington University in St. Louis: Akoya and Bandit Worcester Polytechnic Institute: PANSAT Nanosat-5 Boston University: BUSat Michigan Technological University: Oculus 3rd place Montana State University: SpaceBuoy Penn State University: NittanySat Santa Clara University: Obsidian Texas A&M University: AggieSat3 University of Colorado at Boulder: DANDE 1st place University of Minnesota: Goldeneye The University of Texas at Austin: 2-STEP Utah State University: TOROID II Washington University in St. Louis: Akoya-B and Bandit-C 2nd place Nanosat-7[10] Boston University Georgia Institute of Technology 1st place - Microsats Massachusetts Institute of Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology 2nd place - Microsats Montana State University St. Louis University University at Buffalo, The State University of New York University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Maryland University of Michigan 2nd place - Cubesats University of Texas at Austin 1st place - Cubesats Michigan Technological University was ineligible due to winning Nanosat-6.

Events^[11]

Nanosat-2

• December 2004 - Sparkie and Ralphie launch on the inaugural Delta-IV Heavy^[12]

Nanosat-3

• Summer 2006 - Nanosat-3 winner FASTRAC undergoes Integration and Test at AFRL
• May 2010 - FASTRAC launches on a Minotaur IV

Nanosat-4

• March 2006 - Nanosat-4 Flight Competition Review where CUSat named winner
• March 2008 - CUSat delivered to AFRL

Nanosat-5

• Jan 2009 - Nanosat-5 Flight Competition Review where DANDE named winner
• Summer 2010 - DANDE expected to deliver to AFRL

Nanosat-6

• Jan 2009 - Kickoff
• Feb/Mar 2009 - Systems Concept Review
• Apr/May 2009 - System Requirements Review
• Summer 2009 - Student Hands On Training (SHOT) Workshop 1 in Boulder, CO
• Aug 2009 - PDR at SmallSat Conference in Logan, UT
• Jan/Feb 2010 - Sat Fab class at AFRL
• Spring 2010 - Critical Design Review
• Summer 2010 - Student Hands On Training (SHOT) Workshop 2 in Boulder, CO
• Aug 2010 - PQR at SmallSat Conference in Logan, UT
• Jan 2011 - Flight Competition Review

See also

• United States Air Force Research Laboratory#Space Vehicles Directorate - AFRL - SV

External links

• UNP Main Public Outreach Website (Hosted at Kirkland Air Force Base domain)
• Nanosat-4 Press Release
• http://telemetry.nmsu.edu/nanosatprogramhome.html
• http://www.mtulodearchives.com/index.php?issuedate=2003-01-22&section=12&artid=1925
• http://www.aerospace.mtu.edu/

References

1. US Air Force. "University Nanosatellite Program". AFRL. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
2. "Nanosat-6 Flight Competition Review winners announced and Nanosat-7 Competition begins". Physorg.com. 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
3. Staff Writers (2007-04-04). "Cornell University Chosen To Build Nanosat-4 Flight Experiment". Space Daily. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
4. Torres, Juliana (2005-01-21). "Students' satellites win right to space flight". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
5. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Three Corner Satellite". NASA. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
6. Spires, Shelby G. (2004-12-11). "Delta IV readyfor liftoff today". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
7. Munoz, Sebastian (2010-11-20). "FASTRAC Is In Orbit!". University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
8. "University Nanosat Program". Prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
9. https://www.facebook.com/pages/University-Nanosat-Program/172800849435729?fref=nf
10. "Nanosat-6 Flight Competition Review winners announced and Nanosat-7 Competition begins". Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
11. "UNP News & Events". Prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
12. "Delta 4-Heavy investigation identifies rocket's problem". Retrieved 2014-01-30.