Session
Session 3: Educational Programs I
Abstract
The BIRDS project began in October, 2015 with an objective to provide hands on experience to the graduate students on satellite technology. In a BIRDS project, the students define missions, design, build, test, and operate satellite within given time frame of the project. A 1U CubeSat is built per participating country which are then released from International Space Station (ISS) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and operated through a ground station network, with one ground station established in each member nation. That being the first is series, the second BIRDS project or so called BIRDS-2 project started in November, 2016 with students from, Philippines, Bhutan, Malaysia and Japan. Lean philosophy is adopted for the development of CubeSats and an overlap of a year is created between successive projects so that the lessons learned and knowledge gained from each project is properly passed on. The BIRDS program targets to improve the development process of a CubeSat while maintaining/improving the reliability and reducing waste. But the true success of the program is indicated by the ability of project members to replicate what they learn from this project, at their home country after graduating.
BIRDS-2: Multi-Nation Cubesat Constellation Project for Learning and Capacity Building
The BIRDS project began in October, 2015 with an objective to provide hands on experience to the graduate students on satellite technology. In a BIRDS project, the students define missions, design, build, test, and operate satellite within given time frame of the project. A 1U CubeSat is built per participating country which are then released from International Space Station (ISS) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and operated through a ground station network, with one ground station established in each member nation. That being the first is series, the second BIRDS project or so called BIRDS-2 project started in November, 2016 with students from, Philippines, Bhutan, Malaysia and Japan. Lean philosophy is adopted for the development of CubeSats and an overlap of a year is created between successive projects so that the lessons learned and knowledge gained from each project is properly passed on. The BIRDS program targets to improve the development process of a CubeSat while maintaining/improving the reliability and reducing waste. But the true success of the program is indicated by the ability of project members to replicate what they learn from this project, at their home country after graduating.
