Call for applications for the ESA Academy’s CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2022
In brief
Have you ever dreamed of implementing your own CubeSat mission but didn’t not know where to start? Have you imagined being part of a mission that will set a CubeSat in orbit? ESA’s Education Office is inviting university students, to apply, for the inspiring upcoming CubeSat Hands-On Training Week to get the opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills on spacecraft hardware and software. The CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2022 will be held from the 30th May to June 3rd at the ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in ESEC-Galaxia, Transinne, Belgium.
In-depth
This Training Week is a great opportunity for university students to get hands-on experience with CubeSats and to apply theoretical knowledge obtained from classroom lectures. Students will have the opportunity to perform experiments on Educational Satellites (ESAT) and learn how subsystems work and interact with each other. They will also discover how to conduct Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV), and how to handle tests using real hardware. The aim of the Training Week is to help students that have innovative ideas for educational CubeSat missions, or are working on CubeSat projects at a conceptual or preliminary stage. As an outcome, students will be able to inject the new knowledge gained from the training week into the early design phase of their CubeSat projects.
The focus throughout the Training Week, will be on hand-on learning with ‘’lab sessions’’ supervised by staff from Theia Space, which will be complemented by lectures on the various fields of CubeSat subsystems, testing and operations, delivered by ESA experts. As such, this Training Week is an ideal opportunity for students to become familiar with the Fly Your Satellite! programme.
During the lab sessions, students will have the opportunity to work in groups of two on their own ESAT model provided by the ESA’s Education Office. These are 10cm x 10cm x 10cm models (similar to a 1U CubeSat) developed by Theia Space, with the specific aim of providing university students with hands-on experience.
Before coming to ESEC-Galaxia, the selected students will be required to perform some preliminary activities (reading material and exercises) for a duration of no more than 5 hours to better prepare for this Training Week.
Preliminary schedule
| Day 1 |
Welcome and Introduction Fly Your Satellite! Programme and System Engineering Principles - Lecture Introduction to ESAT model - Lab Session Software - Lab Session |
| Day 2 |
Software - Lecture On-Board Data Handling (OBDH) - Lecture & Lab Session |
| Day 3 |
Electrical Power System (EPS) - Lecture & Lab Session Communication - Lecture |
| Day 4 |
Attitude Determination Control System (ADCS) – Lecture & Lab Session Assembly, Integration and Verification & Testing – Lecture & Lab Session |
| Day 5 |
Spacecraft Operations - Lecture & Lab Session Conclusion |
Who can apply?
In order to participate, students must fulfil the following eligibility criteria at the time of application:
- aged minimum 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant scientific, engineering or other space-related topics;
- be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania or Slovenia;
- be enrolled as a Bachelor, Master, or PhD student in a university for the academic year 2021-2022 (not graduating before the Training Week);
- be studying an Engineering or Scientific subject (with good knowledge in space technology).
The selected students will be sponsored by ESA. This will cover accommodation and meals as well as up to 300 Euros for travelling to Belgium.
Students will be evaluated on their group work throughout the Training Week. Upon completion students will receive a certificate and course transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credits from their respective universities.
How to apply?
- Fill in the application form;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images);
- Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, no images, maximum 2 pages);
- Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university (if not possible due to the current confinement situation in your country, please ask a university professor or an academic supervisor to send a recommendation email to tlp@esa.int);
- Upload a copy of academic records (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (except academic records if not available).
The deadline for applications to participate in the CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2022 is 28 March 2022, 23:59 CET.
For more information, please contact tlp@esa.int.
Important note
Due to the evolution of the corona virus situation in Europe, and in line with governmental instructions across Europe and with the recommendations of ESA's Director General on travel restrictions for health and safety reasons, the ESA Education Office reserves the right to cancel scheduled ESA Academy training sessions.