Session
Session 10: A Look Back: Lessons Learned
Abstract
This work presents the preliminary results and the lessons learned from the operation, thus far, of the Satellite of the University of Chile for Aerospace Investigation (SUCHAI-1), the first CubeSat mission at the University of Chile. The development of the SUCHAI-1 started in 2011 and was launched in June 23rd 2017 in an Indian PSLV Rocket. The launch resulted in a circular polar sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude close to 505 km. The SUCHAI-1 has operated continuously for more than 12 months except for three days after the mid-September 2017 solar storm. The SUCHAI-1 has been studying the capabilities that CubeSats can offer for scientific missions and collecting data from on-board payloads. This project has been the seed for a much longer space program at the University. Currently two other CubeSats are under construction. In this work, we describe the difficulties and the advantages of developing a nano-satellite project in a developing country and the impact that this project has had in students as well as in the space area in Chile.
Document Type
Event
Lessons Learned from Building the First Chilean Nano-satellite: The SUCHAI Project
This work presents the preliminary results and the lessons learned from the operation, thus far, of the Satellite of the University of Chile for Aerospace Investigation (SUCHAI-1), the first CubeSat mission at the University of Chile. The development of the SUCHAI-1 started in 2011 and was launched in June 23rd 2017 in an Indian PSLV Rocket. The launch resulted in a circular polar sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude close to 505 km. The SUCHAI-1 has operated continuously for more than 12 months except for three days after the mid-September 2017 solar storm. The SUCHAI-1 has been studying the capabilities that CubeSats can offer for scientific missions and collecting data from on-board payloads. This project has been the seed for a much longer space program at the University. Currently two other CubeSats are under construction. In this work, we describe the difficulties and the advantages of developing a nano-satellite project in a developing country and the impact that this project has had in students as well as in the space area in Chile.
