Difference between revisions of "Starting a Student Satellite Project"

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More often than not, as soon as you start dreaming about your own satellite orbiting the globe, reality hits you hard. You are bombarded with questions:
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''This‌ ‌segment ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Satellite‌ ‌101‌ ‌Wiki‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌contributed‌ ‌by‌ ‌Aniruddha‌ ‌Ranade,‌ ‌K‌ ‌T‌ ‌Prajwal‌ ‌Prathiksh,‌ Pranav Kasat‌, Ritul‌ ‌Shinde, Shaun Zacharia and also contains the learnings passed on in the team from the past many years through Project Managers.''
* From where will you get the funds?
+
----
* From where will you get the technical knowledge required to build a satellite?
 
* How do you recruit team members who are as enthusiastic about satellite building as you are?
 
* How will you get the required infrastructure?
 
and a lot more. Once reality poses these questions, many dreams die down without ever seeing the light of the day. While starting off a project of this scale can be difficult, it is certainly not impossible. A number of universities have done it. You can too! <br />
 
This wiki can help, to some extent, with the technical knowledge related to building a satellite. Funds could be obtained through various sources like university grants, sponsorships, Government grants etc. Obtaining the funds comes at a later stage and depends on a lot of factors like the strength of your idea (concept, feasibility, application, impact etc.), the readiness of the team and the quality of your pitch. For the rest of the questions, we can provide certain guidelines. These guidelines can be roughly segmented into the following sections:
 
  
* [[Building the Team]]
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More often than not, as soon as you start dreaming about your satellite orbiting the globe, reality hits you hard. You are bombarded with questions such as:
* [[Planning the mission and finalizing the Payload]]
+
*From where will you get the funds?
* [[Identifying the System and Introduction to Systems Engineering]]
+
*From where will you get the technical knowledge required to build a satellite?
* [[Systems Engineering Life Cycle]]
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*How do you recruit team members who are as enthusiastic about satellite building as you are?
**[[Concept Phase]]
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*How will you get the required infrastructure?
**[[Development Phase]]
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and a lot more. Once reality poses these questions, many dreams die down without ever seeing the light of the day. While starting a project of this scale can be difficult, it is certainly not impossible. Several universities have done it. So remember you can do it too! <br />
**[[Production Phase]]
+
This wiki can help, to some extent, with the technical knowledge required for building a satellite. Funds could be obtained through various sources like university grants, sponsorships, Government grants etc. Coming to the other questions, we can provide some guidelines, which can be roughly segmented into the following:
**[[Utilization and Support Phase]]  
+
*[[Building the Team ]]
**[[Retirement Phase]]
+
*[[Planning the mission and finalizing the Payload]]
 +
*[[Obtaining the required Infrastructure]]
 +
<br/>
 +
However, it must be emphasised that funds usually come at a later stage, since it primarily depends on a lot of factors such as the strength of your idea (concept, feasibility, application, impact, etc.), the readiness of the team and the quality of your pitch. All of this probably leaves you with more questions such as:
 +
*How do you decide what kind of satellite to build and what it’s payload should be?
 +
*Even after the payload is decided, how do you go about realizing your satellite?
 +
*How complicated of a satellite will you be able to build when starting from scratch?
 +
*When will you know is the right time to start making a physical prototype/model?
 +
*How do you ensure that you’re not making a mistake in matters technical/non-technical over time?
 +
<br/>
 +
These questions certainly seem daunting! However, it is essential that you ask these questions, since the answers, while being non-trivial, actually shape the ideologies which the team follows! This ultimately goes on to decide whether the team can eventually achieve the goal it had set for. We have compiled guidelines learnt over time, which tries to answer such questions asked by someone who has just set out to build a satellite. These questions can again be roughly categorised under the following:
 +
*[[Identifying the System]]
 +
*[[Systems Engineering Life Cycle]]
 
*[[Quality Assurance]]  
 
*[[Quality Assurance]]  
* [[Obtaining the required Infrastructure]]
+
 
 +
 
 
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If you are done reading the articles in this segment, you can go back to [[Satellite 101]].
 
If you are done reading the articles in this segment, you can go back to [[Satellite 101]].

Revision as of 08:51, 26 September 2020

This‌ ‌segment ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Satellite‌ ‌101‌ ‌Wiki‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌contributed‌ ‌by‌ ‌Aniruddha‌ ‌Ranade,‌ ‌K‌ ‌T‌ ‌Prajwal‌ ‌Prathiksh,‌ Pranav Kasat‌, Ritul‌ ‌Shinde, Shaun Zacharia and also contains the learnings passed on in the team from the past many years through Project Managers.


More often than not, as soon as you start dreaming about your satellite orbiting the globe, reality hits you hard. You are bombarded with questions such as:

  • From where will you get the funds?
  • From where will you get the technical knowledge required to build a satellite?
  • How do you recruit team members who are as enthusiastic about satellite building as you are?
  • How will you get the required infrastructure?

and a lot more. Once reality poses these questions, many dreams die down without ever seeing the light of the day. While starting a project of this scale can be difficult, it is certainly not impossible. Several universities have done it. So remember you can do it too!
This wiki can help, to some extent, with the technical knowledge required for building a satellite. Funds could be obtained through various sources like university grants, sponsorships, Government grants etc. Coming to the other questions, we can provide some guidelines, which can be roughly segmented into the following:


However, it must be emphasised that funds usually come at a later stage, since it primarily depends on a lot of factors such as the strength of your idea (concept, feasibility, application, impact, etc.), the readiness of the team and the quality of your pitch. All of this probably leaves you with more questions such as:

  • How do you decide what kind of satellite to build and what it’s payload should be?
  • Even after the payload is decided, how do you go about realizing your satellite?
  • How complicated of a satellite will you be able to build when starting from scratch?
  • When will you know is the right time to start making a physical prototype/model?
  • How do you ensure that you’re not making a mistake in matters technical/non-technical over time?


These questions certainly seem daunting! However, it is essential that you ask these questions, since the answers, while being non-trivial, actually shape the ideologies which the team follows! This ultimately goes on to decide whether the team can eventually achieve the goal it had set for. We have compiled guidelines learnt over time, which tries to answer such questions asked by someone who has just set out to build a satellite. These questions can again be roughly categorised under the following:



If you are done reading the articles in this segment, you can go back to Satellite 101.