Development and flying of the student satellite

The project goal is to develop a pico-satellite with the support systems required for the satellite mission, test its operation and launch the satellite into orbit within 4 years.

• The main project benefit is the experience gained by more than 100 students in the development of a very practical, complex/interdisciplinary and publicly visible project.
• An important project benefit is certainly the visibility of the university in the media through hundreds of mentions in the press, radio and television. The space project or the satellite program is one of the university’s biggest projects visible in the Estonian media. To be more precise, it is the second largest project after the self-driving vehicle ISEAUTO project. Media extracts indicate that the space project got 265 media mentions between 2016 and 2022. For comparison, the ISEAUTO topic got 505 mentions, Student Formula 156 mentions, NYMO 51 mentions and Smart Road Pavement 13 mentions.g. the Space Centre was 5 times on TV and 6 times on the radio.
• Another project benefit is the continuity and improvement of competence in space technology at the university through researchers who maintain the satellite project’s code base, support structures and supervise students during the development of the project. Space technology is a rapidly growing field of business, from where Estonian unicorns will grow in the coming years. In 2021, Estonia’s contribution to the activities of the European Space Agency amounted to 6.7 million euros and the contribution is increasing – the aim is to reach 10 million euros per year by 2027. ESA invests this money directly into Estonian economy and boosts Estonian space sector.