• A
  • A
  • A
  • ABC
  • ABC
  • ABC
  • А
  • А
  • А
  • А
  • А
Regular version of the site
  • HSE University
  • News
  • Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics Opens Microsatellite Control Center

Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics Opens Microsatellite Control Center

HSE’s Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics has opened a university Microsatellite Flight Control Center. Its main goal is to offer students practical experience with small space devices that work in near-earth orbits. It was created jointly with the company Sputniks.

The students will work with micro and cube-sat satellites that have already been launched into space. Equipment at the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics center will make it possible to use real-time telemetry to track over a dozen such devices which are currently circulating in low-earth orbits. Control commands will be issued to some devices, with the agreement of their developers. The opportunity to control different types of microsatellites from different countries and developed by different groups is a key feature of the MIEM satellite control center – one that differentiates it from all the other similar centers in Russia.

What are micro satellites?

Microsatellites are space devices weighing from 10 to 100 kg. Cube-sats are satellites that weigh from 1 to 10kg. In terms of their on-board systems, they are not very different from large space satellites, they also have orientation systems (passive and active), electricity supply, navigation, radio communications, on-board digital equipment. Micro-satellites and cube-sats can carry out a diverse range of operations, despite their size. They can deliver packages of communication between ground-based sites (including radio enthusiasts), carry out distance tests on the Earth, help in scientific research and technological experiments, and in education. Most micro-satellites and cube-sats (several hundred have already been launched) were created and are operated by students at various different technological universities worldwide.

‘We propose that the control center will not only observe satellites’ flight, but will take an active role in controlling them’ SPUTNIKS’ Technical Director Stanislav Karpenko said. ‘In order to be able to do this in a productive way, we will need to study the space devices we are working with, understand their radio communications protocols and coding and decoding procedures. We will need to study and develop radio signal processing methods, receive and process telemetry data from satellites, and try to use on-board data to evaluate what really is going on. We also need to build relations with the groups who developed these satellites, and as a rule this is also students and graduate students, although sometimes it might be really advanced school-kids, and carry out a number of other practical studies.’

In order to support the Center’s work, the MIEM’s roof has been fitted with antennae, one of which is stationary (145 MHz) and the second tracks the movement of satellites we’re interested in (435 MHz). The radio lab is located in the northern section. Students will use open-source programmes and those developed by SPUTNIKS specially to track and control the Tabletsat-Aurora micro-satellite. ‘We’ve been working with HSE MIEM for several years now,’ Karpenko said. ‘It has made a real contribution to training specialists for design work in the rocket and space sector, for both the Russian space sector as a whole and for the satellite sector specifically. However, despite their superlative academic credentials, many new graduates lack practical skills. And that is why we worked with HSE MIEM to set up this control center for microsatellites. It will offer students the chance to deal with real questions arising – from setting specific tasks for small devices already launched to studying others’ experience and using it to create our own cubesats.’

There are also plans to equip the Laboratory of Space Vehicles and Systems’ Functional Safety at MIEM with equipment to help students learn more about the principles behind the construction of key on-board operating systems in microsatellites. ‘We will not only involve MIEM students in practical work at the Center, we will also reach out to students at School No. 1519 in the North West Administrative District, which is home to the Cosmonauts Museum and where there is already a small virtual flight control center,’ Karpenko said.

‘Microsatellites are an excellent teaching tool, which is why they are so popular abroad. Finally this is also starting to develop here,’ said Evgeny Pozhidaev, Academic Supervisor and Chief Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Space Vehicles and Systems’ Functional Safety. ‘I think that using small satellites is a very important area of work, because no one will let students and school-kids work with large, very expensive satellites. Small satellites, which cost much less and require less time in development and preparation, are another matter.  Today, our main goal as a university is to teach students how to work, while designing their own small satellites and gradually building up contacts with other universities, which have already launched satellites into orbit. I think that the future of universities training space sector professionals lies in small satellites.’

Honoured guests at the opening ceremony for the HSE MIEM Microsatellite Control Center included researcher, doctor and honoured space scientist, Mars project participant Vladimir Makarov, and cosmonaut and pilot Alexander Lazutkin.

 

See also:

‘An Avatar Is an Image of a Posthuman’: Mediacosm Held at HSE University

On February 16, the sixth Mediacosm conference was held. The event traditionally dedicated to discursive and non-discursive ways of presenting the cosmos through media, fashion and music was organised by the HSE Faculty of Creative Industries.

'In Outer Space, Encounters between Humans and Non-humans Could be in a Variety of Languages'

On November 5, the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow hosted an HSE-organised event entitled 'Cosmic Bodies: A Philosophical and Musical Party for Cyborgs'. The speakers and the audience reflected on popular-culture depictions of humans as they explore outer space.

HSE MIEM Celebrates 60 Years at the Forefront of Electronics and Mathematics

Students, staff and graduates of the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM HSE), university leaders, representatives of HSE University faculties and partner companies gathered at the HSE Culture Centre on October 14 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the institute. 

Scientists Learn to Better Predict Space Weather

An international team of astrophysicists has been studying the formation of strong electrostatic waves, ion holes, in the Earth's magnetotail and assessing their impact on space weather. They found that ion holes propagate oblique to the local magnetic field. The study's findings can contribute to a better understanding of processes in the Earth's magnetotail which affect space weather in the near-Earth plasma environment and the polar region. The paper is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

HSE University Participates in Satellite Navigation Monitoring Project

A team of HSE students is taking part in the development of a Russian satellite automatic identification system (AIS) to monitor sea navigation. The aim of the project is to track the locations of vessels and adjust their routes, including in the Arctic along the Northern Sea Route.

Alexei Vagov: ‘Metamaterials Should Serve People'

The Centre for Quantum Metamaterials is one of the new international laboratories that will be launched at MIEM, HSE University, in 2022.  Alexei Vagov, Head of the Centre, speaks about the main areas of the Centre’s research, its team, and future research cooperation.

Researchers Explain Potential Cause of Earth’s Green Airglow

A team of Russian researchers from HSE University, the Russian Space Research Institute, and the Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism (Russian Academy of Sciences) has described the development of modulational instability of electromagnetic waves in dusty ionospheric plasma, which is caused by a high intensity of electromagnetic emissions. The researchers considered inelastic collisions of ionospheric plasma particles and formulated new tasks and applications to be addressed at a later stage. The results are published in the Physics of Plasmas journal.

‘The Trip to Baikonur Blew My Mind!’

On Cosmonautics Day, the HSE News Service spoke with the participants of the CubSX-HSE project, which recently launched a satellite into Earth orbit. Students and staff from the HSE Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM) spoke about their project and impressions of their trip to Baikonur.

HSE to Launch a Satellite into Space

By the end of 2020, HSE scientists will launch their own satellite into low Earth orbit, which will allow them to observe the Earth via the satellite’s remote sensors. To design and create the satellite, specialists and students of MIEM HSE and the HSE Lyceum worked closely with the Sputniks company, the Sirius Education Centre, and Scanex.

‘Now I Will Pursue a Future Career in Space’

During the ‘Big Challenges’ session at the Sirius Educational Centre, five high school students, under the supervision of mentors from MIEM HSE, assembled a small artificial earth satellite. The participants of the research session were young finalists of a nationwide competition held by the educational centre. All five of the students are Olympiad champions and team members of large-scale projects.