A University's First Satellite Mission

Almost every conversation about a university satellite mission starts the same way: someone estimates the cost of the satellite and launch, and those two numbers go into the budget estimate. It's a reasonable place to start — and it's also where most first proposals go wrong. A space mission needs an exhaustive, defensible budget and a mission that's about more than just reaching orbit. As it happens, new government schemes are now making both of those conversations considerably easier.

A 6U Cubesat (MOI-1) by TakeMe2Space

What is needed for a space mission

The satellite bus and the launch are the two costs everyone anticipates. The deployer, assembly and integration, environmental testing and certification, frequency and regulatory filings, launch-and-early-orbit-phase (LEOP) support, a year of ground station and mission operations, and the travel that AIT and launch-site work requires all add up.

Here's how the budget for a CubeSat mission should be planned, the kind of scope a university should typically propose for its first satellite:

TakeMe2Space's 1U CubeSat

A satellite by itself isn't the mission

The satellite is the means; the mission objective is the end.

A strong proposal picks a mission objective that a real academic department can own, and that produces something — a dataset, research output, learning outcomes — once the satellite is in orbit. A few objectives that work well for a first university or student CubeSat mission:

• Environmental monitoring — temperature, UV, magnetic field and solar radiation sensors collecting data across the mission life.

• Power and energy management in space — current and voltage sensors that monitor the CubeSat's own power usage and study how to optimise energy distribution in orbit.

• Earth observation with an onboard camera — low/medium-resolution imagery, a payload that produces visible, presentable results.

Price Support Scheme for Indian Entities

IN-SPACe has introduced a scheme for Indian academia that subsidises access to government space infrastructure and technology. Of relevance are:

• Price Support Scheme: 50% discount on use of IN-SPACe Technical Centre. This lowers the assembly, integration, and testing cost considerably for Indian academia. The Technical Centre provides access to an ISO8 cleanroom, TVAC, shaker, software tools, and electronics test and measurement instruments all under one roof. More importantly, IN-SPACe experts are available on-site to provide guidance and advice. The additional 50% discount makes it an obvious choice

• Launch Service Price Support: 30% discount upto USD 3000 on any Indian launcher - public or private. This opens up multiple options for launch - ISRO's SSLV, PSLV as well as Indian private launchers such as Skyroot's Vikram-1 and upcoming launch service companies such as Agnikul.

Building the pitch

Put together, a satellite mission must have:

• An exhaustive budget — include the bus and the launch, but also deployer, payload, AIT, regulatory filings, LEOP, a year of mission operations, and travel & stay (especially to the AIT and launch sites).

• A mission objective with a life after launch — pick a payload and a research question so the mission produces a paper, a dataset and learnings.

• Grant-adjusted numbers — IN-SPACe's Price Support Scheme can take a real bite out of the testing, facility-access and launch costs.

None of this requires the university to have space engineers on staff already. Most first missions are built in partnership with a space-hardware provider that has flown its own satellites, and can help translate a mission concept into a fully-itemised budget, a realistic testing and launch plan, and a clear read on which government schemes actually apply.

If your institution is putting together a satellite mission proposal, we're happy to help build out the budget, the mission objectives, and the grant picture specific to your case — get in touch, or browse our satellite buses and subsystems at https://www.tm2.space/category/all-products.