On october 8, the first cubesat, ARC1, designed and built by an interdisciplinary group of engineering and science students from alaska was launched. Through this satellite we were able to develop a…

This federal contract award, valued at $199,999.00, was issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) under the Expanding LAPSPACE Systems Engineering Program Through Undergraduate Student Instrument Project. The contract is a cooperative agreement to refine UAF's ARC satellite bus architecture, fly an improved launch environment data logger, and modify the communications subsystem to enable testing of advanced satellite communications techniques.

The contract also supports the development of student science payloads, including a solar sail deployment experiment, an imager to observe sprites in the upper atmosphere, and an imager to observe Arctic methane and black carbon. UAF will additionally provide mentorship, on-site training, and environmental testing support to the Oregon Space Grant Consortium's CubeSat development efforts. This contract does not have a set-aside designation, reflecting UAF's status as a public university.

On october 8, the first cubesat, ARC1, designed and built by an interdisciplinary group of engineering and science students from alaska was launched. Through this satellite we were able to develop a complete satellite bus, purchasing only the EPS subsystem. Additionally, we developed processes and training material for use with future missions. The electrical and mechanical leads now provide this training to new students. Our graduate student mentor, is currently working with a new group of undergraduate students, with a one year plan to lead them through concept studies to engineering model development and testing. Our primary mission for this current solicitation is to refine our ARC bus architecture, fly an improved launch environment data logger, and modify our comm subsystem by creating a flexible communication infrastructure, satellite and ground, that would allow testing of variable coded modulation techniques and retro directive antenna arrays for small satellites. Additionally, we have solicited science payloads which may take longer than the 18 months delivery cycle of this solicitation. We intend to develop several student payloads, fly the one that completes in the fime frame allowed, while progressing others for future missions. Some of these payloads, currently in concept phase include developing, a solar sail deployment and drag experiment; an imager system to observe sprites in the upper atmosphere;and an imager system to observe arctic methane and black carbon. Lastly, UAF students will support the development of a cubesat in the oregon space grant consortium by providing mentorship; onsite summer training; and environmental testing support