OwlSat CubeSat: Rice’s Ride to Space
Selected in the 11th Round of the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative!
Owlsat is Rice University’s first ever cube satellite (cubesat). Not only is it our first ever cubesat, but also NASA is funding our launch through the Cubesat Launch Initiative (CSLI). With it being our first ever cubesat, we students are learning a lot as we go and always could use more help. If you’re a current or incoming student at Rice University interested in building a real satellite that will go to space, please fill out this interest form or contact Doug Steinbach using your rice email. If you aren’t a student but still want to be involved, you’re in luck, we want to share our love of space and radio communication with people outside of Rice University. To involve the greater Houston area in Owlsat, we are going to host educational events about amateur radio communication using the ground station we are building. If you’re interested in attending these amateur radio education events, please read the Amateur Radio Educational Events section and check back in January. We are building our ground station first, then will shift to community educational outreach.
However, before we discuss further how to get involved with our amateur radio events, you might be wondering what a cubesat is, why we’re launching one, and why NASA is paying for our ride? A cubesat is a small satellite built to a standardized size for research, education, or a technology demonstration. Owlsat is a 1U cubesat meaning it is a cube that is 10cm by 10cm 11cm, or about the size of a tissue box. But a cubesat can be other sizes such as 2U (10 by 10 by 20), 3U (10 by 10 by 30), and 6U (10 by 20 by 30) [all units are in centimeters]. So we are launching a tissue box sized satellite, but why? Our science team and advisor want to study extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation in low earth orbit to create an orbital decay model that factors in EUV radiation. You can read a more in depth description of our science mission below, but in a sentence: EUV radiation causes satellites to fall back to earth faster (increases orbital decay), but no model currently exists directly correlating the two. Lastly, NASA is paying for our ride because we submitted a proposal back in the fall of 2019 outlining our science mission, timeline, fundraising, and more. You can read our award winning proposal below. So we have a science mission, a ride to space, and plans to involve the community now all we need to do is build a satellite.
Although much has changed since our initial proposal, we encourage you to read our award-winning submission to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative: 2019-2020 CSLI Proposal
Amateur Radio Educational Events
To involve people inside and outside of Rice University on this project, we will be hosting educational events about our ground station and amateur radio communication. To share his passion of ham radios with Houston, Allen K0ECE, and other members of Owlsat will host educational events starting next year. To learn more, check back in January or go to the Rice University Amateur Radio club and email Professor Reiff about joining the list serv. At these events, members of the Houston community will learn how radio communication works, what the components of a ground station are and their functions, see the ground station collect data from space in real time, and more!
Not only will people in Houston get to use our ground station, but also members of SatNOGS, an international open-source ground station network, will be able to downlink data with our ground station. We will be building a ground station that is capable of both receiving signals from compatible satellites and sending commands to our satellite. We will be incorporating both capabilities into SatNOGS for members to use around the world.
If you’re interested in CubeSat radio design, you can check out our Link Budget, a necessary calculation to establish the parameters required to have a satellite in space communicate with a ground station on Earth.
Science Mission
So the science mission was briefly described above but you might still be confused and asking yourself, “what is EUV radiation and why should I care?” EUV radiation is light in the wavelength range between ultraviolet and X-rays. As you may know the sun is essentially a large nuclear reaction and therefore emits a lot of radiation including EUV radiation. Energetic emissions from the sun can have tangible effects upon the Earth’s atmosphere and increased EUV radiation caused by solar activity adds energy to the particles that compose the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to expand. This movement increases the amount of atmospheric drag satellites encounter and subsequently raises their rate of orbital decay.
Essentially, we know EUV radiation increases the rate of orbital decay but we don’t have an accurate model relating the two phenomenon. To establish a more concrete connection, we are measuring the EUV radiation in low earth orbit (LEO), the satellite’s orbital velocity, the satellite’s orbital position (altitude), and the satellite’s orientation to characterize how varying EUV levels modulate the orbital decay rate over time. This comparison will serve as the basis for a new linear regression orbital propagation model created and updated via iterative Deep-Layered Neural Networks (DNN). This model will enable future scientists and engineers to make more comprehensive predictions for orbiting bodies, such as space debris and small satellites.
Therefore, our science mission have the potential to save governments and private companies money in satellite tracking by providing more accurate orbital models in times of increased EUV radiation. This more accurate model should also help with collision avoidance since it will be easier to understand the position of different satellites.
Meet the Team
The Owlsat team
Back Row (left to right): Jordan Martin, Rafe Neathrey, Jane Mo, Bryant Huang, Davis Jackson, Olivia Mudrick, Kevin (KJ) Dix, Doug Steinbach
Front Row (left to right): Devin Gonzalez, Ryan Pai, Allen Morrison, Juan De Carcer, Dan Zislis, Lianne Johnson
Not Pictured: Kenton Roberts, Paul Glenski, Hoik Jang, Adolfo Carvalho, Fred Gachocka, Joshua Lee
Owlsat electrical Team
Owlsat Mechanical Team
Boarding Pass for OwlSat
Are you a Rice University Student, alumni, or faculty/staff? Obtain your boarding pass to space by submitting your name to be engraved on a chip and sent into orbit! Just click the link above!
Articles We’re Featured In!
Rice SEDS student club receives grant from ECE department
Rice University News: Rice satellite OwlSat set to launch in 2022
Rice Thresher: NASA to launch student-created OwlSat satellite in 2022
RUNNER UP: Astranis SEDS Sat-2 Competition
About the Competition:
The Astranis SEDS SAT-2 competition calls on SEDS chapters across the country to submit a design for a novel 1U CubeSat that will then be launched and deployed by NanoRacks, LLC, with Astranis donating the cost of the launch.
The competition was officially launched at SpaceVision 2018, where the Request for Proposal (RFP) was released, and an Astranis/NanoRacks workshop was held to give teams an introduction to designing, building, and integrating a CubeSat for low Earth orbit.
Participating SEDS Chapters:
Arizona State University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Florida Institute of Technology
MIT/Tufts/Northeastern
Purdue University
Rice University
Texas A&M University
University of California San Diego
University of Central Florida
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Utah State University
Virginia Tech
SEDS USA Press Release: SEDS Announces Winners of Astranis SEDS Sat-2
Astranis Press Release: Why We’re Helping a Student Satellite Get to Space