Space Engineering Project Based Learning By Working Real Space Programs

Project Based Learning is a new term now used by many universities to describe ‘hands-on’ projects, which bring students closer to the ‘real world working conditions’. At Stanford University there was a need to give students in the graduate programs in Aeronautics and Astronautics ‘hands-on’ experience to learn systems engineering. To provide this experience, the Space Systems Development laboratory was started in 1994 to take students through the full life cycle of a project. In this case it was designing, building, launching and operating microsatellites in space. The program now is finishing the third generation of microsatellites and starting a new program concentrating on building picosatellites called CubeSat (10 cm cube, weighting 1kg). Although the program has successfully launched two of their microsatellites and have launches for three more, it was determined that the best education value could be obtained by building the CubeSat, which were less complicated, could be built quicker ~ 1 year, cost less ~ $5,000 and have regular low-cost launches ~$30k. Meeting these goals can accomplish the systems engineering training in the project life cycle, but now within the education lifetime of a master’s degree student. The CubeSat program is now being adopted at other US universities such as Montana State University, University of Arizona, Taylor University, California Polytechnic State University, University of California at Santa Barbara and many more. Stanford University now has four CubeSats under development for completion in early 2002 with launches later that year. This paper will describe the results of the microsatellite program, review the evolution into the CubeSat program and outline how other universities can participate in ‘real world space projects’.