Aphelion Aerospace is proud to announce that it has been awarded a Master Service Agreement (MSA) of up to $10M for CubeSat products from One Voice 4 Change of Colorado. This MSA is a 5-year contract for CubeSat simulators, balloon launched CubeSats, and rocket launched CubeSats that can operate in space.
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CubeSats are miniature satellites made up of cubes. A single cube is 10 cubic centimeters. They can be stacked together to build larger CubeSats with more capabilities. These CubeSats can be launched to space and they can operate just like larger satellites. Their applications include communications, R&D, education, defense, and others.
Dr. Gregg Cannady of the STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, the project leader of Sim to Balloon to Orbit (S2B2O), says that this is a 3-phase project to provide real life experience to high school and university students around the world.
In Phase 1, starting in late 2022, One Voice 4 Change will conduct a pilot run with 100 CubeSat simulator kits provided by Aphelion. In this phase, students grouped in 5-person teams per CubeSat simulator, will build one from start to finish and will learn to operate it. The project will be conducted in two different languages English and Spanish, and the students participating will be an international bunch from English and Spanish speaking countries including USA, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, UK, and others.
In Phase 2, scheduled to start in 2023, students will build CubeSats that will be launched by high altitude balloons. In Phase 3, scheduled to start in 2024, students will build CubeSats that will be launched to space by perhaps Aphelion rockets. In both of these phases, after the CubeSats are launched, they will be operated by the students from the ground.
Dr. Cannady admits that this is a highly ambitious project but he is no stranger to ambitious projects. He has several years of experience leading ambitious projects around the world in countries like Belize, Mexico, and others. This is one of many amazing STEM projects that One Voice 4 Change has been organizing and they are not alone. They count with the support of Aldrin Family Foundation, Lockheed Martin, AIAA, AMSAT, GoSats, BlueCube Aerospace, and others.