We proudly announce a new cooperation with a team of the University of Würzburg: Project Daedalus!
Together we are participating in the REXUS 23/24 – Project of the REXUS/BEXUS programme. The project covers the deployment of several orbital gliders at an altitude of 80km within the rocket launch of REXUS 23. These gliders shall then return safely back to earth. This idea should serve as Proof-Of-Concept for a reversed weatherballoon to measure atmospheric parameter top-to-bottom from extraterrestrial planets.
The orbital gliders, called SpaceSeed, shall be decelerated after the reentry in the Earth’s atmosphere with a concept similar to rotating maple seeds.
During the flight, atmospheric parameters and position data should be recorded to reconstruct the trajectory of the gliders.
The TU Wien Space Team will adapt the already flight-proven Flight Management System (FMS) and implement it as an onboard controller of the gliders. Furthermore, we are responsible for designing and constructing the mechanism to deploy the SpaceSeeds.
The launch of REXUS 23 is scheduled for Spring 2018 at the SSC, Esrange Space Center, Kiruna in northern Sweden.