The TU Wien Space Team is proud to look back at a very successful 2017!
Here you can find a review of all the highlights of the past year and a few sneak peeks into our current projects.
Completed Projects of 2017:
Since 2013 the TU Wien Space Team has been working on developing the hardware of a nanosatellite.
On the 23rd of June 2017, the CubeSat was launched into its orbit in the thermosphere with the Indian PSLV Rocket. Today, 7 months after the launch, the components for ‘Pegasus’ are working flawlessly and is still sending and receiving data.
It has become a tradition that new members to the TU Wien Space Team, under the guidance of experienced team members, develop an experimental rocket for the French competition C’Space. The challenges of conception and building a complete rocket were tackled again this year giving rise to the rocket ‘STR-07 Florent’. Furthermore, a complete new CanSat release mechanism was developed and integrated into the new rocket.
All technical and mechanical requirements were met successfully before the launch, however due to a problem with the recovery system the rocket could not be recovered. Despite this, STR-07 was an important experience for all team members and will serve as an important learning experience for future projects.
Current Projects:
‘The Hound’ will be introducing new records within the TU Wien Space Team in regards to altitude, velocity and acceleration of our rockets. The two staged rocket consists of two commercially available rocket motors with a total impulse of around 30 000Ns. It is projected that The Hound will be reaching an altitude of a minimum 42km and a velocity of Mach 4.
„The Hound“ has completed several one and two staged test flights in 2017. Our goal is to break the European Altitude Record, which is currently set to 32.3 km high. The record attempt is planed for autumn 2018.
As part of the German-Swedisch REXUS/BEXUS program the TU Wien Space Team is cooperating with the students of the University Würzburg. The goal of the project is to test a new recovery system for measuring probes: “SpaceSeeds” will be released by a rocket at an altitude of around 75km and, after re-entry into the atmosphere, will be decelerated via rotation which was inspired by maple seeds.
Currently the „SpaceSeeds“ are in their final testing phase and are being prepared for their launch in March 2018, which will take place in the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna (Sweden).
Motor-Project „Thor“:
This project is the result of the endeavour of the TU Wien Space Team to create our own rocket motor for future experimental rockets within the team. Currently we are using commercially available solid state motors and are striving to synthesize the great performance of liquid motors with the easy-to-use nature of solid state motors. In addition, the use of safe and easy-to-handle fuel in combination with modern development methods will be considered in this project as well.
CanSat Competition:
In cooperation with ESERO Austria the TU Wien Space Team is organizing the first CanSat competition in Austria as a preliminary step for the European CanSat competition held by ESA. Space probes will be created in school projects that meet the rules of the competition. The highlight of the competition will be a rocket launch with the release of the mini satellite at an altitude of around 500m.
The competition is planned for April 2018 and will be organised by the TU Wien Space Team, where members will also be part of the jury.
https://www.aec.at/esero/erster-cansat-wettbewerb-oesterreichs/
http://www.esa.int/Education/CanSat
