We have lift-off: UAE-built Mysat-1 successfully launched

The UAE has cemented its position as a growing global player in space exploration after a satellite built and developed by students was launched yesterday.

The country’s space programme hit another high when Mysat-1, crafted by about 20 students at Khalifa University, soared into the skies on a rocket launched from Wallops Island in Virginia in the east of the US.

Mysat-1 was one of several satellites taken up by an Antares 230 rocket bound for the International Space Station.

The result of a three-year project, Mysat-1 weighs only 1.3 kilograms and is a type of CubeSat – a 10-centimetre satellite made of cube-shaped units.

It has a camera that will take pictures of Earth, and it will be used to test a lithium-ion battery also made at Khalifa University.

“While not the first nano-satellite developed in the UAE, Mysat-1 is among the first to be developed by local students who have been taught within the country, at one of the UAE’s own universities,” said Khaled Al Hashmi, senior director at the UAE Space Agency.

Mysat-1 was designed and built by master’s degree students studying space systems and technology.

The university’s programme was developed with Yahsat, which is owned by Mubadala, and the American defence and aerospace giant Northrop Grumman.

Mysat-1 was built at the Yahsat Space Lab in Masdar City.

The launch, carried out by Northrop Grumman as part of a contract with Nasa, comes just weeks after another UAE take-off – KhalifaSat, which was the first satellite fully developed and built by Emiratis.

It was built at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre under the supervision of the UAE Space Agency.

“The UAE’s space sector is now in a phase where we are witnessing accelerating progress as we move towards the launch of the Hope Probe in 2020,” said Mr Al Hashmi, referring to the UAE’s Mars mission.

Students at other universities around the world have developed and built CubeSats and the experience could be valuable, said Prof Alan Smith of University College London.

Prof Smith, who has worked for the European Space Agency, has links to a programme in Dublin in which students create satellites.

“It’s extraordinarily effective in engendering an enthusiasm in space and a holistic view of the topic,” he said. “For people getting into the space business it’s really a useful thing to do.

“It’s hands-on, but in a multifaceted way. Students can always find a part of it that interests them.”

Prof Smith said some students might be interested in operations, others in software coding or in antennae. They sometimes worked in teams of six to eight people. Many parts they use can be bought online.

“That assembly is a lot more difficult than it seems,” he said. “The parts may not fit together perfectly. A lot of testing has to be done. A lot of systems work has to be done.

“It’s a very good training aid. It gets the students to understand the life cycle and complexity of a whole satellite. That’s a very powerful tool.”

Many satellites built by students are not actually launched, so in that respect the UAE project stands apart from those at some other universities.

As well as the Mars probe, the UAE space programme also wants to send an Emirati astronaut to the International Space Station next year through a collaboration with Russia’s Roscosmos federal space agency.