UK students to launch international space mission

Image courtesy University of Surrey

Six students have travelled to the Etlaq Spaceport in the region of Duqm in Oman, from where their Jovian-O payload is scheduled to launch on the KEA-1 launch vehicle, made by Stellar Kinetics, as part of the Duqm-2 mission.

Jovian-O is a 6U CubeSat – a type of small satellite, roughly the size of a shoebox – consisting of a prototype deploy pod designed by students at the University of Surrey and built on campus. The payload also contains DAVE (Dual Aperture for Viewing Earth), the Earth observation instrument delivered by students from the three universities. DAVE incorporates two small cameras, one of which aims to take images and videos of the Earth, and one which will attempt to use a space-facing camera to look for space debris.

After launch, the deploy pod will then release DAVE and film, demonstrating its suitability for use on future orbital missions. For this test, DAVE will remain tethered to the deploy pod and rocket while capturing visual data, which will be transmitted back to Earth and received via a mobile ground station operated by the student team using communications technology from AMSAT-UK.

Louise Butt, Director of the Space South Central Enterprise Network, said: “This is the first mission to launch under the Joint Universities Programme for In-orbit Training, Education and Research, JUPITER, which Space South Central supports. This collaborative initiative equips students with practical, real-world space industry experience and training, enhancing their career prospects and helping to address skills gaps in the space sector in Surrey and Hampshire – and beyond.”

Professor Keith Ryden, Director of Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, said: “This latest mission from the University of Surrey builds on our 40+ year heritage of pioneering cost-effective space engineering, this time putting students front and centre. The hands-on mission experience they’re gaining will help their careers and meet some of the skills needs of the space industry – so strong in our region. As well as seeing pictures from DAVE, we’re keen to see our cost-effective, Surrey-made deploy pod tested in space, as we plan on using it for future JUPITER missions.”

Dr Becky Canning, Deputy Director for Space at the University of Portsmouth, said: “The JUPITER programme, now with its first launch, is a very exciting opportunity for our students to build and launch their own satellite, to learn about the design, build, test and the launch process in the space sector, to address some key space skills shortages in the UK, and I hope to have a lot of fun doing so.”

Professor Hendrik Ulbricht from the University of Southampton said: "Jovian-O is a bold initiative accelerating access for a new generation of engineers in the space industry. This hands-on experience is giving our students the opportunity to build their skills and industry connections early. With DAVE heading out of our atmosphere and plans for annual JUPITER launches, the future of student-led space exploration is just beginning."

Ieuan Carney, who is leading the group of students behind the Jovian-O payload, said: “We are grateful to our universities for this incredible experience and want to thank the University of Surrey, the University of Portsmouth and the University of Southampton. Developing hands-on, industry-ready space engineering skills while we’re still at university gives us a direct pathway to careers in the space sector and the platform we need to stand-out in the jobs market. Coming to Etlaq and working with their staff and the team from Stellar Kinetics ahead of the launch is a unique opportunity giving us practical, real-world experience of the space sector. We’re now mission ready.”