Florida UNiversity SATellite (FUNSAT)  Design  Competition

Why a design competition?

While launching satellites into space has become cheaper as space industries have matured and perfected their business the cost is still well above what a normal company or research group could afford. This project will explore the possibility of conducting research on a "size group" of satellites that are comparatively much cheaper and could provide a stable avenue for affordable space research. Moreover, the way this design competition is structured is to allow students to have a one-year, two semester, turn around on an actual system design project. The students will have the opportunity to design, integrate, build, and test an entire system that will have a profound effect on their future professional career. The FUNSAT Student Design Competition will evaluate multiple designs for a pico satellite in the CubeSat design. FSGC will support the material costs for the winning teams. A systematic approach is essential in defining the CubeSat, and will require analysis and optimization for the following elements due to the stringent constraints set down by the standard CubeSat design: satellite mission and payload, and satellite subsystems, including, power, structure, communications, command and date handling, attitude control and determination, and thermal sensing and managing.

The Florida University Satellite (FUNSAT) Design Competition is sponsored and administered by the Florida Space Grant Consortium.