StudSat

Key takeaways

StudSat belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect StudSat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of StudSat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

STUDSAT (STUDent SATellite), is a CubeSat satellite designed by students. This project was conceptualised and project managed by undergraduate students across India. STUDSAT is a picosatellite successfully launched on 12 July 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The mission's objective was for students to have a hands-on experience with the design, fabrication and realisation of a space mission at a minimum cost. Experimental in nature, the mission life was stated to be six months. STUDSAT was the first picosatellite launched by India, as well as the smallest satellite launched indigenously by any Indian organisation.

History The project was initiated by a group of four students from different Engineering colleges of Hyderabad and Bangalore who attended International Astronautical Congress (IAC), 2007, Hyderabad, India after meeting Mr. D. V. A. Raghavamurthy (project director, Small Satellites, ISRO Satellite Centre) at the congress. From then the team expanded slowly, ultimately completing the conceptual design. Following the financial budget analysis, the students approached the management of their respective colleges for sponsorship. The colleges, in turn, approached Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for preliminary review of the project. ISRO scientists approved the preliminary design review after having a set of meetings with detailed presentations by the students. The initial four member team expanded to around 45 students from 10 different colleges. Seven of the colleges formed a consortium to provide the financial sponsorship for the project. The colleges are bound by an internal Memorandum of understanding (MOU), led by Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore as representative college to sign an official Memorandum of understanding with ISRO. The project team is led by Dr. Jharna Majumdar as the project coordinator. STUDSAT is successfully placed in the orbit and received the first signal on 12 July 2010 at 11:07 am IST (??:07 UTC).

Studsat consortium STUDSAT consortium consists of seven Engineering colleges from Hyderabad and Bangalore bound by a Memorandum of understanding in order to sponsor the project financially. The consortium comprises the following colleges:

Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore B.M.S. Institute of Technology and Management, Bangalore Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Hyderabad Vignan Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad RNS Institute of Technology, Bangalore Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Tumkur

Description The satellite resembles a small rectangular cube, with length dimensions of 10 cm x 10 cm x 13.5 cm, a weight of almost 950 g. The satellite was launched in 625 km Sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite will perform the function of a remote sensing satellite and take images of Earth's surface with a resolution of 90 meter, the best achieved by any "PICO" category satellite in the world. The satellite consists of the following subsystems:

Communication sub-system. Power generation and distribution sub-system. Attitude Determination and Control sub-system. On Board Command and Data Handling. Payload (camera). Mechanical Structure. A ground station has been designed in order to communicate with the satellite. The ground station NASTRAC (Nitte Amateur Satellite Tracking Centre) which is established in Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) was inaugurated by Dr K. Radhakrishnan, the current chairman of ISRO. All the above subsystems are designed by students indigenously.

Current status The satellite has completed its mission life. The CDR was conducted in NMIT where several scientists notably Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao former chairman of ISRO have evaluated the design. The CDR had been approved by ISRO. The satellite was launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) on 12 July 2010. The team had taken over control of the satellite from the ground station established at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bangalore. The satellite is no longer in contact with the ground station. Two Line Element Set (TLE) of StudSat-1 are:

1 36796U 10035B 12227.08525431 .00001146 00000-0 15376-3 0 2565 2 36796 098.0573 303.0904 0014305 346.6376 013.4443 14.81257111113029 Source: AFSPC

STUDSAT-2 The Team STUDSAT is continuing the legacy and building twin nanosatellite for proving the concept of Inter-satellite links (ISL). The design of the Twin-Satellites STUDSAT-2A and STUDSAT-2B, are of dimensions 30 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm and weighing less than 10 kg. The main goal of the STUDSAT 2 project is to develop a low-cost small satellite, capable of operating small scientific or technological payloads where real time connectivity is provided by inter-satellite links.

Achievements The team has presented a paper titled "Studsat-A Student Pico-Satellite for Imaging" in International Astronautical Congress, 2008 which was held in Glasgow, Scotland. The team won Hans Von Muldau Award for the best team project awarded by International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt. The Team has also done a National Record (India) by entering into LIMCA BOOK of RECORDS-2011 Edition for creating the smallest Indian satellite.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with StudSat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what StudSat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to StudSat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about StudSat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of StudSat

In research: StudSat appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses StudSat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: StudSat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics CubeSats of India, Picosatellites, Spacecraft launched in 2010, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for StudSat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study StudSat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what StudSat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain StudSat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is StudSat in simple terms?

STUDSAT (STUDent SATellite), is a CubeSat satellite designed by students. This project was conceptualised and project managed by undergraduate students across India.

Why does StudSat matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study StudSat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on StudSat.