^{UAH senior Matt Rodencal and Brad Poffenberger with NASA Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program monitor the work done by (pictured from left) UAH students Eric Becnel and Mason Manning along with Justin Foley with Cal Poly in the cleanroom at Cal Poly with the ChargerSat1 satellite sitting on the blue mat. Photo: Mark Becnel/UAH Space Hardware Club}

Students at The University of Alabama in Huntsville have completed their Mission Readiness Review of ChargerSat 1, the Space Hardware Club’s CubeSat project. The team is now clear to complete the final touches to the satellite, and blast-off is less than three months away.

Members of the Space Hardware Club at UAH were in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on the campus of California Polytechnic State University in order to put the ChargerSat1 through readiness tests as a final hurdle toward the scheduled launch. The UAH students have been working for more than three years on a tiny satellite that is scheduled to be sent into space on Oct. 30. The project began in 2010 when the club applied for a spot on a future NASA launch. In 2012, the club won a spot along with 33 other universities nationwide to be part of the third round of the CubeSat Launch Initiative.

The mission’s three basic objectives are to improve communications for picosatellite operations; to demonstrate passive nadir axis stabilization for picosatellite attitude control; and to improve solar power collection for picosatellite operations.

ChargerSat 1 is an approximately four-in. cube weighing 2.2 lbs. The satellite will survive six to 24 months in space before it re-enters the atmosphere. Thirteen civilian satellites will fly on the rocket, and each is participating in the meeting in California.

Once the satellite is in orbit, the Space Hardware Club will talk directly to it from the UAH Engineering Building. The team is working on a website that will allow people to view the satellite in action.

Release Date: July 25, 2013
Source: University of Alabama in Huntsville