6th SSETI Workshop

SSETI, the Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative was started by ESA’s Education Office in 2000. Its main objective is to create a network through the internet of students, educational institutions and organisations to design, build and launch micro-satellites. At the same time Sseti increases knowledge about space amongst Europe’s youth and provides them with hands-on experience.

Through SSETI, 21 teams from around Europe are participating in the first project: to build a European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO). ESA’s role lies in assisting communications, steering, verification and testing, facilitating launch arrangements and hosting the workshops at ESTEC. These take place around twice a year and two members from each team are invited to participate.

In December formal reviews were held of the propulsion, attitude determination and control, structures, configuration and mechanism subsystems. Non-formal one-to-one discussions also took place between experts and groups on the RadFET subsystem, the narrow angle camera and the communications groups. ESA's experts are positive about the work that has been done to date and encouraged the students to continue.

During the week members of the CUBESAT programme visited the workshop. This is a Norwegian student programme to design and build microsatellites of less than 1 kg so it is was interesting for both groups of students to compare notes and talk about their work.

Discussions also took place on the next two projects to be undertaken: SSETI Express, a small Earth observation mission due to be launched towards the end of next year and ESMO, a European Student Moon Orbiter mission to the moon.

All in all it was a busy but very productive week. If work continues to go to plan ESEO will be launched in 2005.