PSU students prepare Oregon's first satellite for space flight

(OCTOBER 29, 2021) Students at Portland State University are reaching for the stars -- literally. The Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS for short) is a student aerospace engineering project at Portland State University. And according to the group's website, its members are "building ultra-low-cost, open source rockets and satellites that feature some of the most sophisticated amateur rocket avionics systems."

Now the student group is preparing Oregon's first satellite for space flight. It's called OreSat0. Later this month, PSAS will deliver the satellite to Spaceflight Inc. in Seattle. That company will add OreSat0 into its space vehicle that will travel to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sometime in 2022.

The student group is actually designing a series of several satellites. Each satellite is small -- about the size of a tissue box. It includes solar panels, batteries, a color camera, and a communication system.

This first satellite is a test. A second larger satellite is being built for NASA, the federal space agency. It will study climate science. Specifically, it will look at the distribution of cirrus clouds around the world.

One thing that makes these satellites special is that they are "open source." That means that the students are sharing information about how they are built. Anyone can use the same design for free.

“By publishing our designs it makes aerospace more accessible,” said David Lay. David is a senior in electrical engineering and member of PSAS. He says, “These are incredibly expensive systems to just buy off the shelf, so we’re letting people build their own with our designs.”