The Design Booster 2 programme takes off!

The Fly Your Satellite! Design Booster programme is for satellite teams with a preliminary design that want to benefit from support from ESA for the consolidation of their detailed design. The programme has just concluded the selection process for its second edition, and the work of the teams will soon continue.

The second cycle of the programme features a unique interdepartmental collaboration with the YoungNav community, from the Navigation department. The goal is to nurture the development of the Navigation related mission with further support, allowing the students to learn from the experts in the field.

On 10 and 11 December the shortlisted teams participated in the online Selection Workshop for the second cycle of the programme. They presented their mission in front of a panel of ESA experts, answering their questions and providing further insights about their projects.

This marks the final stage of an extensive selection process that began with the initial submission of mission proposals in October, followed by participation in a Training Week, the subsequent proposal updates, and concluding with the selection workshop.

A total of 5 teams have been selected for the second cycle of the programme.

• CHESS Pathfinder 1 - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

This 3U CubeSat is developed by students from EPFL. It aims to study Earth's upper atmosphere using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (University of Bern) and a multi-GNSS payload (ETH Zurich). These instruments will provide vital data on species' number density, altitude profiles, and ion dynamics, updating decades-old measurements.

• CIMER - Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic

The mission, led by YSpace from the Brno University of Technology in collaboration with Mendel University, investigates the feasibility of rehydrating cyanobacteria after extended exposure to space. A 3U CubeSat will carry desiccated cyanobacteria, rehydrated at intervals and monitored via sensors and cameras, providing crucial data for life-support systems and advancing biological research for future space exploration.

• ELECTRA - Politecnico di Torino, Italy

This 3U CubeSat from Politecnico di Torino, aims to demonstrate a solid-state micro thruster and GNSS-based Kinematic Precise Orbit Determination for cost-effective orbit control. It also measures ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) using dual-frequency GNSS signals, providing data on space weather phenomena like solar storms to improve forecasting and satellite communication resilience. Thanks to its navigation objectives, the mission will be supported by the YoungNav community together with the ESA Academy team.

• FEIsat - University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia

The mission from the University of Technology in Bratislava aims to develop a cost-effective platform for fluid and semifluid viscosity testing in space, with a secondary payload to study supercapacitor performance. Focused on system redundancy to ensure reliable communication, the CubeSat will transfer experimental data to ground stations. The project aims to advance student knowledge, support educational goals, and establish a micro-lab in orbit, while improving ground station and mission control skills.

• STRATHcube - University Of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

The primary mission of this 2U CubeSat from the University of Strathclyde is to demonstrate the detection of space debris from orbit, using an illuminator of opportunity. The secondary mission investigates solar panel fragmentation during atmospheric re-entry by measuring the thermal and motion history.

The teams will continue their work and at the beginning of 2025, with the assistance of ESA, they will participate in the Baseline Design Review, assessing the status of every mission, identifying key issues and discrepancies and defining corrective actions and solutions.

Congratulations to all the selected teams and best of luck for the continuation of your mission!