Annual Report 2008
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Annual Report 2008 Space Center EPFL http://space.epfl.ch 22 April 2009 Version for public release The picture on the cover pages shows a flight simulation of the K1000 sub-orbital spacecraft above the south of France. More information in Section 5.1.2. Table of content EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 5 1 SPACE CENTER EPFL ORGANISATION AND OBJECTIVES ................................................. 6 1.1 ORIGINS OF THE SPACE CENTER EPFL .............................................................................................. 6 1.2 MISSION, OBJECTIVES AND VISION .................................................................................................... 6 1.3 STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE SPACE CENTER EPFL ........................................................................ 9 1.4 STAFF OF THE SPACE CENTER EPFL .................................................................................................. 9 1.5 ORGANISATION ................................................................................................................................ 10 2 MEMBERS OF THE SPACE CENTER EPFL .............................................................................. 12 2.1 REMINDER OF THE MEMBERSHIP RULES .......................................................................................... 12 2.2 FOUNDING AND PERMANENT MEMBERS .......................................................................................... 12 2.3 NEW MEMBERS IN 2008 .................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 POTENTIAL ACADEMIC MEMBERS ..................................................................................................... 13 2.4.1 Haute Ecole Spécialisée de la Suisse Occidentale (HES-SO) ............................................... 13 2.4.2 SUPSI .................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4.3 ETHZ ..................................................................................................................................... 13 2.5 INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ................................................................................................... 13 2.5.1 NASA ...................................................................................................................................... 13 2.5.2 Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) ........................................................ 14 2.5.3 University of Surrey ............................................................................................................... 14 3 ACTIVITIES ...................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1 GENERAL ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................................... 17 3.3 SPECIAL EVENTS .............................................................................................................................. 19 3.3.1 Astronaut campaign ............................................................................................................... 19 3.3.2 A3-Swisscube fund raising event ........................................................................................... 19 3.4 WEB SITE ......................................................................................................................................... 21 4 SWISSCUBE ...................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 MANAGEMENT SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS ........................................................................... 22 4.1.1 Project schedule, reviews and workforce .............................................................................. 22 4.1.2 SwissCube launch options ..................................................................................................... 24 4.1.3 International activities ........................................................................................................... 26 4.1.4 Activities linked to the Radio-Amateur .................................................................................. 27 4.2 TECHNICAL SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS ................................................................................. 27 4.3 PR SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS............................................................................................... 34 5 CONCURRENT DESIGN FACILITY ............................................................................................ 35 5.1 ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2008 ................................................................................................................ 35 5.1.1 Space Center activities in CDF ............................................................................................. 35 5.1.2 External studies linked to the Space Center EPFL ................................................................ 36 5.2 PLANS FOR 2009 .............................................................................................................................. 41 5.3 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 41 6 PHD SPACE RESEARCH AT EPFL .............................................................................................. 42 6.1 EPFL SPACE RESEARCH PROGRAMME ............................................................................................. 42 6.2 HYPERSWISSNET ............................................................................................................................. 42 7 EDUCATION AND TEACHING ..................................................................................................... 44 7.1 MASTER, MINOR, AND SEMESTER PROJECTS .................................................................................... 44 7.2 MINOR IN SPACE TECHNOLOGIES ..................................................................................................... 45 8 RESEARCH PROJECTS .................................................................................................................. 47 8.1 VADE-MECUM FOR REQUESTS RELATED TO “SEED MONEY” ACTIVITIES .......................................... 47 3 8.2 “SEED MONEY” STUDIES EXECUTED IN 2008 .................................................................................... 48 9 OUTLOOK FOR 2009....................................................................................................................... 49 10 APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................................... 50 10.1 LIST OF MASTER, MINOR, SEMESTER PROJECTS DURING 2008 AT THE SPACE CENTER EPFL ..... 51 10.2 NEWSLETTER OF THE SPACE CENTER EPFL ................................................................................ 55 10.3 LIST OF R&D PROJECTS MANAGED BY THE SPACE CENTER EPFL IN 2008 ................................. 58 Note: This document is a shortened version of the full report presented and accepted by the Steering Committee of the Space Center EPFL in April 2009. 4 Executive Summary This report summarises the main activities carried out by the Space Center EPFL in 2008. The year 2008 was very important for the Space Center EPFL, particularly with respect to the continued support confirmed by its members and by the high interest generated by the SwissCube project. Of key importance was the decision of the Swiss Space Office affiliated to the State Secretariat for Education and Research in Bern to sign a new agreement with the Space Center EPFL on 22 August 2008 for the 4-year period 2008-2011. Earlier in 2008, the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) in Brugg became a new Academic member of the Space Center EPFL. The year 2008 was also fraught with exciting events for the Space Center EPFL. Among them, EPFL hosted the first of the new ESA Astronaut selection campaign. More than 250 participants attended the event which included presentations of Prof. Claude Nicollier and ESA representatives, with the presence of the media. This was followed by a similar event in ETHZ. The SwissCube project moved from phase C to D with the performance of strenuous tests and the elaboration of the flight model. A major decision was taken in 2008 to fly the satellite on the Indian launcher PSLV planned for the first half of 2009 but the VEGA option has been maintained for a possible SwissCube 2 launch in 2010. Thankfully, the core team, made of young engineers, was maintained on the project in 2009 to ensure its completion. The Space Center EPFL is engaged in a quest to receive formal recognition of EPFL through long-term funding. During negotiations EPFL presidency always showed an extremely positive attitude, with generous one-shot funding for the SwissCube project, namely from the STI faculty. The CDF hosted a number of successful projects, especially the K1000 project in partnership with the EPFL Homofaber student project and sponsored by Dassault. The students’ satisfaction with their work