The Role of Universities in Small Satellite Research

The investigation of fundamental scientific problems is a core mission of the university. Professors and researchers have had a long, successful history as principal investigators for such projects. Now, because technological advances have made small spacecraft less expensive and more capable, universities can offer their services in the area of spacecraft design and development as well. This is not a call for students to build and operate high-performance spacecraft. Rather, it is an announcement of opportunity for universities to apply their strengths – education and innovation – to a new field. For the research and teaching process which universities use to contribute to scientific investigation also equips them to contribute to spacecraft engineering. Students and professors can take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them, allowing them to try out wild ideas in search of helpful lessons. The university environment allows research and study in new methods of spacecraft design, fabrication and operation at lower costs and with more acceptable risk than is possible in industry. There is also a valuable byproduct: knowledgeable, capable students seeking employment. Experience in two Stanford satellite projects, Sapphire and Opal, confirms these assertions. Sapphire has demonstrated the feasibility of space-based alternatives to standard ground-based testing of new components. Opal has provided researchers with an alternate mission architecture that has justified a new project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These spacecraft, and the others that will be developed at Stanford, contribute to the training of students in spacecraft systems engineering, and help demonstrate new technologies and processes. Such contributions are necessary elements in the effective use of small spacecraft.