Abstract
In 2006 Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced a new initiative to have students from TJHSST design and build the first ever high-school satellite. Leveraging the large body of prior work done in the CubeSat community, and under the mentorship of Orbital Sciences engineers, TJHSST students are in the design phase of their new CubeSat dubbed TJ3Sat. The TJ3Sat payload consists of a digital voice synthesizer that will be accessible to the general amateur radio community. The launch of TJ3Sat is currently scheduled for mid 2009. Unlike most other student satellite programs, the TJ3Sat project has unique challenges by virtue of being a high school satellite. These challenges include organizational obstacles, resource constraints, and the absence of similar programs to draw experiences from. A high school usually does not have the required knowledge base to support a satellite program of any kind. To overcome these obstacles, the TJ3Sat program established a unique collaboration an industry partner to provide resources and real-world mentors.
Presentation Slides
TJ3Sat – Unique Challenges of Building a Small Satellite within a High School Environment
In 2006 Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and Orbital Sciences Corporation announced a new initiative to have students from TJHSST design and build the first ever high-school satellite. Leveraging the large body of prior work done in the CubeSat community, and under the mentorship of Orbital Sciences engineers, TJHSST students are in the design phase of their new CubeSat dubbed TJ3Sat. The TJ3Sat payload consists of a digital voice synthesizer that will be accessible to the general amateur radio community. The launch of TJ3Sat is currently scheduled for mid 2009. Unlike most other student satellite programs, the TJ3Sat project has unique challenges by virtue of being a high school satellite. These challenges include organizational obstacles, resource constraints, and the absence of similar programs to draw experiences from. A high school usually does not have the required knowledge base to support a satellite program of any kind. To overcome these obstacles, the TJ3Sat program established a unique collaboration an industry partner to provide resources and real-world mentors.
