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MIT Satellite Team

Projects

Our philosophy

Systems Engineering, End-to-End

We decide on projects as a team, pitching missions to each other before deciding where to move forward from there. We have a particular interest in projects with humanitarian appllications. Students can expect to learn from their fellow team members as they build the skills needed to work on the project.

All members begin with team-wide trainings, before moving onto joining a mission. Documentation is supremely important to us, so we make sure all decisions, plans, & task assignments are listed on the confluence. It's very important that new members can keep joining, and learn from our past missions.

Mission Parameters

All missions start with a meeting discussing the mission parameters and constraints.

Subteam Assignment

After coming up with those, subteams are created to focus on addressing any concerns associated with those parameters.

Design Reviews & Documentation

Work is presented to industry professionals through design reviews. All feedback, and the reviews themselves, are documented and we iterate on our mission.

Our missions

Payload

ETHER

Active mixing system aimed at reducing temperature stratification in cryogenic tanks to achieve near-zero boil-off.

Status: In Development
View details →
CubeSat

LEONIRD

LEONIRD is a two-phase satellite mission focused on remote atmospheric sensing. Fully built from scratch.

Status: Phase I: In Development
View details →
Payload

ETHER

Goal: Test novel active cryogenic fluid mixing system, to validate its ability to reduce boil-off to near-zero levels.

We aim to use a 6U payload on our partner Oligo Space's Satellite. ETHER is a tank containing a specific baffle setup that has been simulated to reduce boil-off to near-zero. ETHER aims to validate this by emulating the same mixing conditions and measuring the fluid's boil-off to match with simulated levels.

Skills

  • SolidWorks / CAD Software / Structural Designing
  • Ansys / CFD-Based Thermal Modeling / Data Modeling
  • TRL Hardware Prototyping / Machining Tools / Machining
  • Altium / PCB Design Software / Electrical Engineering

Subteams

  • Communications
  • Controls
  • Data Management
  • Electrical
  • Structures
  • Testing & Manufacturing

Status

In Development.

Learn more
CubeSat

LEONIRD

Goal: Bridge gap in atmospheric data through limb sounding.

LEONIRD is our flagship mission. It's a two-phase satellite built around limb sounding, meaning it observes the atmosphere along the edge of the Earth rather than looking straight down. By passing tangent to the Earth's curvature, LEONIRD would be able to use solar occultation in the NIR spectrum to measure trace gases as sunlight passes through them during sunrise/sunset. Phase I is the current phase, and it focuses on mission planning, subsystem definition, early avionic & embedded development, communications & ground station work, and prototyping an open-source CubeSat hardware based on PyCubed architecture. Through support from the ReX lab at MIT and Dr. Zac Manchester, Phase I is intended to establish the technical and operational foundation needed for the mission's later stages in the second phase. Phase I also includes a high-altitude balloon mission as a lower-risk testbed for our communications, tracking, integration, and operations network.

Subteams

  • Software
  • Manufacturing
  • Structures
  • Ground Station

Status

Phase I: In Development

Learn more