The first cohort of students of the Interdisciplinary Space Master (ISM) presented GOLDCREST, a CubeSat project launched as part of their studies. The goal of the project was to design a small satellite to measure soil moisture from space using GNSS reflectometry. As a reference, a NASA mission with a similar goal, CYGNSS, uses satellites 30 times bigger than GOLDCREST does. Dr. Jan Thoemel, Head of the CubeSat laboratory, led the students in this exercise.
In less than two semesters, the ISM students successfully conceived, designed, and developed not only the small satellite (a 1U CubeSat – measuring 10 cm3), but also its entire mission. They worked as a team, collaborating remotely with a consensus-based approach while using state-of-the-art concurrent design practices, and presented the project at the Asteroid Day event “Space Connects Us”. “GOLDCREST is just the beginning. The next cohort will develop the mission further by looking into open design questions and answering them. I am very optimistic we will reach a maturity which will allow us to build and launch a satellite to obtain scientific measurements,” said Dr. Thoemel.
“It was quite challenging, starting from the beginning, to work on the subsystems, but at the same time it has been fascinating to see how the project has been quickly evolving from the rough requirements and assumptions to the concrete design of a real CubeSat!” said ISM student Natalia Stepanova. GOLDCREST is a great example of the project-based learning approach of the Master, which aims at shaping the next generation of space entrepreneurs, researchers and professionals in Luxembourg. “The most valuable aspect of the ISM is the unique combination of the courses, which provide us with a 360°-degree overview of the space industry and connect us to experts in the field,” concluded ISM student Niloufar Asadi.