Programme schedule

The schedule is divided into five main parts detailed below. Each part is provided a letter based on the phase of the project. Participating teams should be intimately familiar with the programme phases to ensure that their necessary deliverables are submitted before the required deadlines. Some dates related to the launch of the experiment have yet to be confirmed at the publishing of this article. Participating teams will be provided exact dates by ESA Education Office as they are confirmed by all parties involved.

A. Selection Process

A.1       Inscription

This first phase aims at evaluating the number of potential applicants and the preeminent topics of interest for OYT!3. The interested teams shall submit a letter of intent together with a ratified ‘Privacy notice and consent form’. The letter of intent shall give a broad glimpse of the experiment to the selection committee. This portion of the application process is not mandatory for teams to submit. However, it is highly recommended that teams submit this package as ESA Academy can provide feedback on the initial concept early in the process. Please note that guidelines for the deliverables requested can be found in the section Documents.

A.2       Experiment proposal submission

The applying teams shall further define the members of their team, if this has not been done already. The team shall name professor or academic supervisor who explicitly endorses the students and project throughout the OYT3 programme in the form of an official letter. Together with the preliminary questionnaire, the experiment proposal shall plainly detail the scientific and/or technical objectives, and all the elements that can assess the validity and relevance of the experiment. Finally, students are asked to submit a first version of the Experiment Flight Safety Data Package (EFSDP), focused on the safety aspect specific to the ISS.

A.3       Shortlisting of teams

ESA Education Office and the Selection Board will shortlist the teams which have met all the eligibility criteria, have demonstrated appropriate background knowledge of the science, and whose experiments are suitable for the ICE Cubes facility and ISS platform. 

A.4       Selection Workshop 

Shortlisted teams are invited to a selection workshop at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre, ESTEC, situated in the Netherlands. During the workshop, teams present their projects to a Selection Board composed of engineers and scientists from Space Applications Services, ESA specialists from different functional areas (Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration, ESA Education Office), and members of the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA). 

Space Applications Services provides a review based on safety and feasibility of all the EFSDPs submitted by the teams. Based on the evaluation of the experiment proposals, the preliminary questionnaire, and the review of the experiment flight safety data package, the Selection Board will identify the experiment recommended to fly onboard the ISS inside the ICE Cubes facility. 

B. Design and Development

Selected teams begin the process of developing and refining their experimental design, beginning with the feedback from the Selection board. The endorsing professors focus on the scientific aspects of these improvements. Experts from Space Application Services will review the preparation and the design of the experimental set-up and procedure to obtain the safety and flight readiness certification.

The design and development phase is made of three stages; the preliminary design phase (PDP), critical design phase (CDP), and the assembly, integration and test (AIT). Each of these stages end with a review conducted in presence of experts from the Selection Board. 

C. Launch Campaign 

C.1       Confirmation of launch

The confirmation of the launch is a crucial point in the sequence of events of the launch campaign. The following milestones are given using retro-planning, and calendar dates considering the hypothesis of a launch in September 2023.

C.2       Interface Tests

After the successful completion of the Safety Review, the launch campaign begins with interfaces tests at Space Application Services in Brussels, Belgium. A ground model of the ICE Cubes Facility is made available for the team to perform integration tests for verification of all interface requirements and operational procedures. The tests shall be made on an engineering model or the flight model, depending on the teams model philosophy.

C.3       Flight Acceptance Review /Hardware delivery and shipment

When the readiness of the flight model is demonstrated, the Cube is shipped to ALTEC (Turin – Italy) for the Cargo Review, before the shipment of the Cube to the launch site. 

C.4       Launch

D. Operations

D.1      Execution of the Experiment

Upon arrival to the International Space Station, the Experiment Cube is installed into the ICE Cubes Facility ready for operation. Shortly thereafter, the ICE Cubes Mission Control Centre is activated, and control of the experiment is passed to the team so that they can run the experiment according to the predefined operations plan and directly monitor and control the experiments. 

D.2      Disposal

After up to 4 months in orbit, the Experiment Cube will be removed from the facility and disposed of. Data optionally stored on removable media will be returned on next available return vehicle that can accommodate the payload. 

E. Data Analysis                               

The team and endorsing professor analyse the results obtained and eventually are expected to write a scientific paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, or presented at an international conference. As a conclusion to the programme, the students shall complete their experiment entry on the Erasmus Experiment Archive, including all the relevant and disclosable information, results and conclusions from the investigation. 

Whilst every effort is undertaken by ESA and associated partners to avoid such circumstances, any phase of the Orbit Your Thesis! programme may be cancelled, delayed, postponed for any number of reasons. Participating teams will be notified immediately if such circumstances arise. Publishing this announcement of opportunity and progressing through the selection process does not guarantee a launch opportunity.