Fly Your Satellite Proposal Instructions

Introduction

The selection timeline is the following: 

Activity	Deadline
Information Sessions  For potential applicants. Register here.	November 15, 2023, 16:00-17:00 CET  December 14, 2023, 16:00-17:00 CET
Deadline for proposal submission  Deliverables: Satellite Proposal + University Endorsement Letter + Funding letter	January 21, 2024, 23:59 CET
Shortlisting of teams  Shortlisted teams are invited to the Selection Workshop	Shortlisted teams will be informed by mail before January 26, 2024
Clarifications issued by evaluation panel to be addressed at the Selection Workshop	February 15, 2024
Selection Workshop at ESTEC (The Netherlands)	February 26-28, 2024  Selected teams announced within approximately 2 weeks after the Selection Workshop
Training Week at ESEC-Galaxia (Belgium)	April 22-26th 2024

How to Apply

Interested in applying to Fly Your Satellite! 4? You should then do the following: 

• Ensure your team is eligible and meets the conditions to apply (see section below) 
• Familiarise yourself with the programme phases
• Request the following documents by filling out this form

         - “FYS general Terms & Conditions” document  

         - “FYS Design Specification” (FDS) and its compliance matrix (for CubeSats).

            The FDS is based on the CubeSat Design Specification. 

         - “FYS Design Specification – PocketQube” (FDS-PQ) and its compliance matrix (for PocketQubes).

            The FDS-PQ is based on the PocketQube Standard issue 1. 

• Upload the following documents to the online registration form in PDF format no later than the deadline indicated above: 

         - Satellite Proposal 
            The Satellite Proposal template can be downloaded here. 
            Carefully read the guidelines described within the document. 
            PDF file name: “FYS4_Satellite-Proposal_TEAMNAME” 

         - Endorsement letter 
            The letter of endorsement from the professor responsible for the satellite project 
            PDF file name: “FYS4_Satellite-Proposal_ TEAMNAME_endorsement-letter” 

         - Funding letter 
            The university or tertiary education institution funding confirmation letter 
            PDF file name: “FYS4_Satellite-Proposal_TEAMNAME_funding-letter" 

Proposals that do not comply with the requirements provided in the conditions to apply (section below) may be rejected without being reviewed further. The information provided in the proposals will be treated as confidential and will only be distributed to and reviewed by the ESA Panel for the purpose of the evaluation. The contact person indicated in the proposal may be contacted by ESA for further clarifications during the proposal evaluation period. 

Any questions regarding applications can be directed to cubesats@esa.Int 

Conditions to Apply

1. Scope of the Candidate Satellite

The new edition of the Fly Your Satellite! programme is open to university or tertiary education(*) student teams from an eligible state, working on pico- or nanosatellites that have already manufactured and tested the satellite subsystems, and are ready to proceed to the satellite integration shortly after being accepted to the programme. 

Allowable form factors are 1U, 2U, 3U, 3U+ for CubeSats and 1P, 2P, 3P for PocketQubes. 

The scope of the proposed mission shall be educational, and the proposal shall clarify in which way the educational objectives will be pursued. 

Student team members are encouraged to prepare theses on subjects (e.g., technological, engineering, scientific…) related to their satellite mission. This shall be reflected in the proposal, and ESA will consider it as an educational asset. 

The proposal shall also highlight the mission objectives of the satellite (for instance technological experiments, scientific research, earth observation or other). Applications should reflect to what extent end-data users are integrated in the project. Teams are encouraged to make end-users part of the project, either with embedded support (student members or professional advisors) or in collaboration with relevant organisations. Possible business or downstream applications shall be also highlighted. These are considered assets for the application.       

The baseline status for satellite teams is listed below. ESA Education encourages teams to submit proposals even if they do not meet all the below points: 

1. The project is compatible with the applicable requirements and compliance is supported by drawings, datasheets, analysis, test reports, etc. 
2. Subsystems have been functionally, and performance tested and preferably qualified. (Not applicable for PocketQubes). 
3. All items for QM or PFM (depending on the model philosophy) have been procured. 
4. Software has been developed and tested in an integrated configuration, e.g. FlatSat or stack testing. 
5. Spacecraft final Assembly & Integration can finish within 6 months from Selection, and functional and mission/day-in-the-life tests can begin shortly after. 
6. A clear AIV programme and schedule exists and is coherent with the scope of the mission and the model philosophy 
7. Legal and regulatory obligations (e.g. ITU registration, IARU coordination, mission authorisation, insurance, etc.) have been considered and confirmation of compliance to those may be expected soon.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For the current call, launch opportunities to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) compatible with ESA zero debris approach on orbital lifetime are envisioned. This means that the natural orbital decay duration shall be below 5 years (final numerical value is being consolidated at the time of opening of this Call). Teams should indicate in their Satellite Proposal the range of orbits to which they are compatible in terms of mission objectives, ground coverage, system performance, etc.  Flexibility to several orbits is recommended as pico- and nanosatellites often fly on rideshare missions or as piggyback payloads and teams should be prepared to accept deployments from orbits that deviate from their optimal performance orbit. 

(*)Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. This includes undergraduate, postgraduate, vocational and technical education. 

 

2. Team Composition 

The opportunity is open to teams from universities or other tertiary education institutions of an eligible state. The applicant team shall include:  

A core team of minimum 8 students for CubeSat teams or 4 students for PocketQube teams complying with the eligibility criteria. 

• The core student team (as specified above) and all students receiving sponsorship for travel and accommodation must comply with the following eligibility criteria: 

         - Aged minimum 18 years old; 

         - Be a citizen of an eligible state; 

         - Enrolled at a university or other tertiary education institution of an eligible state. 

• The number of student team members may be extended during the project lifetime. There is no limit to the maximum number of student team members.  
• Teams are encouraged to include students from diverse disciplines such as technicians (e.g. professional bachelors, vocational training), and non-STEM backgrounds (business, law, agriculture, architecture, and more) which align with their project goals. Teams may also consider partnering with other institutions (e.g. technical colleges) to include such team members.  
• Teams are invited to include early-career professionals (either from industry or academia), who may also be eligible for sponsorship if they are citizens of an eligible state.  
• Satellite teams may include a number of students that do not comply with the eligibility criteria above.  Those students will not be sponsored by ESA for travel and accommodation if participating in programme events.  

In addition, a minimum of 2 supervisors shall cover these three functions: 

• An endorsing staff, responsible for the satellite project, endorsing the proposal on behalf of the university or tertiary education institution; 
• A team leader (the endorsing staff, experienced student (e.g. master/PhD student), or an assistant of the university or tertiary education institution) coordinating the project at system level and ensuring the milestones and deadlines of the FYS programme are met; 
• A system engineer (the team leader, or an experienced student (e.g. master/PhD student) from the same university or tertiary education institution as the team leader); 
• The key roles of team leader and system engineer must be undertaken by citizens of an eligible state. 

Those conditions on the team composition will continue to apply throughout the entire project execution. ESA may ask the university or tertiary education teams to provide evidence of their compliance to the eligibility criteria at any time during the project. 

 

3. Project Funding 

The teams participating in the Fly Your Satellite! programme shall rely on their own sponsors to fund the complete development of their satellite and ground station. 

The student teams shall also rely on their own independent funding to support the satellite operations.  

The satellite Proposal shall reflect how the funding matches the estimated costs of the satellite development, including margins. 

A letter from authorities of the university or tertiary education institution confirming that the funds necessary to build and operate the satellite (if selected to FYS) will be available shall be attached to the online submission form. 

 

4. Partnerships and collaborations 

If the proposed project is a joint undertaking of multiple parties (e.g. two universities collaborating on one mission), one single university or tertiary education institution shall act as the leading institution and the key point of contact vis-à-vis ESA.  

The collaborations with other organisations or institutions shall be clarified in the proposal, including a description of the mutual agreements (if applicable). Teams should detail any partnership: 

• with technical institutions (e.g. for manufacturing and testing) 
• with end-data users (e.g. for consolidating system design and operations planning) 
• with industry and research institutions (e.g. to foster transfer of knowledge to students, access to facilities, funding, mentorship or internship/thesis opportunities) 
• with educational institutions (e.g. for outreach, inspiration and STEM engagement) 
• with relevant government mental, non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations (e.g. EU institutions, space agencies, NGOs). 
• Etc. 

Note that partnerships should not compromise the educational nature of the project. 

 

5. ESA Sponsorship 

ESA contribution in the support of the participating student teams will include the following: 

• Support offered by the ESA Education personnel that run the programme, and by the ESA specialists who will lecture, follow up, and review the student activities;  
• Access to and use of test facilities; 
• Participation in ESA workshops and training courses, reviews of the “Fly Your Satellite!” programme, test and launch campaigns; 
• Launch opportunity, if the satellite is accepted for launch. 

It is noted that selection for participation in the Fly Your Satellite! programme does not offer a guaranteed launch, and that launch dates will be defined throughout the programme. The earliest launch opportunity for teams selected through the present call for proposals is expected as of 2025. 

 

6. Legal and Registration 

ESA does not take ownership of the satellites. The teams or their institutions will remain the owners of the satellites, and will hold all the responsibilities related to ownership, these include:  

• the mandatory coordination of amateur frequencies with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), if applicable; 
• the registration of the satellite frequencies at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); 
• the registration of the satellite at the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space;  
• the responsibility to perform the analysis for the satellite de-orbiting, and overall compliance with the requirements for space debris mitigation; 
• any applicable national legislation. 

ESA will offer guidance on each of these topics throughout the programme. 

 

7. Technical Requirements 

When planning to submit a proposal, the team leader shall request the “FYS Design Specification” (FDS) and its compliance matrix (for CubeSats) or the “FYS Design Specification – PocketQube” (FDS-PQ) and its compliance matrix (for PocketQubes) by filling out this form. 

The FDS is based on the CubeSat Design Specification. The FDS-PQ is based on the PocketQube Standard issue 1. 

Compliance to the technical requirements must be reported within the Satellite Proposal, in the dedicated annex part of the template. 

 

8. Terms and Conditions 

The acceptance of the FYS general Terms and Conditions, applicable for the university or tertiary education institution to participate in ESA’s ‘Fly Your Satellite!’ programme, is mandatory and a prerequisite condition to participate to the Programme. The university or tertiary education institution is requested to carefully read these general Terms and Conditions before submitting a proposal for participation to ESA's FYS Programme.   

It is strongly recommended to provide the “FYS general Terms & Conditions” to the university or tertiary education institution legal administration as early as possible, in order to prepare and enable the university or tertiary education institution to confirm the participation of the satellite team to the programme upon selection. 

When planning to submit a proposal, the team leader may request the “FYS general Terms & Conditions” by filling out this form (same form as to request the technical requirements). 

 

9. Endorsement Letter on behalf of the university or tertiary education institution 

The endorsing staff shall write a formal letter of endorsement, including signature, in which he/she should clearly state that he/she supports the FYS proposal and that he/she accepts responsibility for the satellite project. The endorsing staff should be able to make commitments on behalf of the university or tertiary education institution, or seek confirmation from those who are able to, on the provision of funding, working space, working time for the students, continued support for the duration of the project etc. 

Only one proposal per university or tertiary education institution faculty or department can be considered for the proposal to Fly Your Satellite!. The faculty or department will be asked to withdraw the other proposals in case of multiple applications. 

 

10. Ranking and selection 

All proposals will be reviewed and decisions regarding rankings and selections of satellite teams will be taken by a dedicated Panel composed of ESA experts. The selection criteria will include, amongst others: 

• the educational content; 
• the mission objectives; 
• the feasibility and maturity of the proposed satellite project, and its compatibility with the FYS schedule and milestones; 
• the team and project organisation. 

If two proposals are of equal quality, priority will be given to teams and/or projects that have not been launched by the Education Office or did not yet participate in Fly Your Satellite! or other ESA Education Office programmes. 

 

11. ESA Academy Code of Conduct 

Everyone who participates in Fly Your Satellite is a participant in an ESA Academy programme. Therefore, all participants are subject to the ESA Academy Code of Conduct. 

 

12. Personal Data Protection 

As part of their participation in the programme satellite teams must provide ESA with certain personal data. Which data is collected, the purposes it is used for, to whom it may be disclosed, and how long it’s kept for are all covered in the ESA Academy Privacy Notice and consent form, which should always be available on the ESA Academy webpages, and agreement with which must be made before submitting personal data to ESA.