Student-Built Satellites Head to Space... Seven Teams Selected for CubeSat Competition

Seven universities, including Pusan National University and Yonsei University, take on disaster monitoring and space environment observation missions
Development funding, technical support and launch opportunities... Satellites to fly aboard domestically developed launch vehicles

CubeSats designed by undergraduate and graduate students are heading into space. The students will have the opportunity to develop satellites for a range of missions, from monitoring disasters such as wildfires and floods to observing the space environment and testing laser optical communications, and to validate the technology in space.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said on Oct. 22 that it had selected seven teams as finalists in the 7th CubeSat Competition: five beginner-level teams and two advanced-level teams.

Commemorative photo of the organizations selected as finalists in the 7th Small Satellite Competition. Photo provided by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

The competition is a program in which undergraduate and graduate students work with faculty advisors on every stage of satellite development, from design and production to testing. Beginner-level teams develop satellites for single missions, while advanced-level teams develop satellites for multiple missions. This year, the competition assessed the preliminary designs and technical feasibility of 14 teams that passed the first round of judging, and selected seven finalists.

The beginner-level teams selected were Plato Sat from Pusan National University, PADO-SAT from Kyung Hee University, Blue Orbit from Jeju National University, OFDIR from Gyeongsang National University, and KAUSAIL from Korea Aerospace University. The advanced-level finalists were CubeSat Yonsei from Yonsei University and OLIVESat from Chosun University.

The selected teams will take on challenges including observing the space environment, monitoring disasters, and developing laser optical communications. They also proposed using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor wildfires and floods, observe fine dust, detect satellite equipment malfunctions, and compress data.

The teams will complete their flight models after design reviews, satellite production, and space environment testing. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will provide development funding and technical support, as well as opportunities to launch the satellites on domestic launch vehicles.

All six CubeSats selected in the 6th competition were launched aboard Nuri. Four were carried on its fourth launch in November last year, and the remaining two were carried on its fifth launch in October this year.

Lee Sang-cheol, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said, "The greatest significance of the CubeSat Competition is that university students' creative ideas are realized as actual satellites that carry out missions in space. We will continue to provide support so that this experience can help develop future space talent and strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's space industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.