Second CubeSat Designed and Built by Students, Gently Eases into its Orbit after Leaving International Space Station ��

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Khalifa University and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) have jointly announced the deployment of DhabiSat into orbit from Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply spacecraft, marking yet another milestone achievement for the university and the UAE.

DhabiSat, the second CubeSat designed and built by Khalifa University students, gently eased into its orbit after leaving the International Space Station (ISS). The primary mission of DhabiSat is to enable students to design, implement, and test software modules for attitude determination and control subsystems (ADCS). The work was conducted at the Yahsat Space Lab, which is part of the Khalifa University Space Technology and Innovation Lab (KUSTIL).

Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, said: “With the deployment of DhabiSat into its orbital slot, our students and our partners have once again registered another key milestone for Khalifa University and the UAE. We thank our partners Yahsat and Northrop Grumman, who have supported our students throughout the process of designing, developing and launching DhabiSat, the third CubeSat built by Khalifa University students, as well as another CubeSat we are planning to build in the future. As the UAE begins to consolidate its status as a space power in the world, we look forward to creating more scientific talent and human capital, especially in the space science sector, along with our academic and industry partners.”

Congratulating the team, Yahsat’s Chief Human Capital Officer Muna Almheiri said: “This is a significant step in the UAE’s mission to develop homegrown talent to lead its National Space Programme. We need future generations of Emirati space leaders and visionaries to fulfill the aspirations of our founding fathers, and the rich potential of our nation. DhabiSat’s successful deployment underscores the aptitude, skills, and maturity of our youth to manage multi-pronged programmes and work with the leading lights in the global space industry. Yahsat is very passionate about helping worthy candidates grow and understand advanced satellite technologies to spur national industrialization efforts. The Yahsat Space Lab established at KUSTIL is an excellent vehicle for the development of local manpower in space and system engineering fields, and DhabiSat is yet another example of its success. We also thank our partners – UAE Space Agency, Khalifa University, and Northrop Grumman – for their committed support to the cause. The UAE’s space ambitions are not defined or limited by national borders, and DhabiSat is a perfect example of what a country can achieve through national and international collaborations.”

“As technical advisor and student mentor to the DhabiSat team, Northrop Grumman looks forward to the results of the attitude control research that will be carried out by the satellite,’ said Frank DeMauro, vice-president and general manager, tactical space systems, Northrop Grumman. “The deployment of DhabiSat and other CubeSats also ��ݮ��Ƶ the versatility and value in our Cygnus resupply vehicle carrying out missions beyond supplying the International Space Station.”

DhabiSat will assess the accuracy of various ADCS pointing control strategies and validate the same by taking images using a digital camera onboard pointed in specific directions. The new ADCS algorithms shall improve the pointing accuracy of the CubeSat and its response time to attitude changes as compared to conventional algorithms. In terms of system resources, DhabiSat will require less power to achieve the targeted pointings and if successful, the algorithms will gain flight heritage on board DhabiSat, which then can be used as a baseline for future CubeSat missions.

Earlier, MySat-1, the first CubeSat developed by students of Khalifa University, was deployed from the NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft in February 2019. The educational and communication CubeSat sent images from space that were received by the satellite ground station at Khalifa University. In addition, a new Lithium Ion battery, manufactured at Khalifa University’s Masdar Institute laboratories, was also tested in space. Students and faculty have so far published several papers based on the data from MySat-1.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
13 July 2021

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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is set to launch the company’s 15th resupply mission () to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Service-2 contract. The NG-15 mission’s Cygnus spacecraft will launch aboard the company’s Antares rocket with nearly 8,000 pounds of scientific research, supplies, and hardware for the crew aboard the station.

Liftoff of the Antares rocket is scheduled for Feb. 20 at 12:36 p.m. EST from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Live coverage of the Antares launch will be available on NASA Television at . ��

Read the full story here: ��

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Meet the students, faculty and researchers who are contributing to the DhabiSat mission. DhabiSat is the second mini satellite, or CubeSat, to be developed by a team of KU students.��

Find out who they are and what role they are playing to ensure DhabiSat’s success.

To learn more about the mission and scope of DhabiSat, read this article.��

Faculty

Dr. Firas Salah Jarrar Acting Manager of Yahsat Space Lab & Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Students

Ahmed Ali Albuainain MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Communication subsystem team. Also involved in Risk Management and Concept of Operations team.

Aysha Khaled Alharam MSc Electrical and Computer Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control/Payload/On-Board Computer subsystem. Also involved in Concept of Operations team.

Ebrahim Ali Almansoori MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Concept of Operations team.

Aaesha Ahmed Almazrouei MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem.

Yaqoob Khaled Alqassab MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control subsystem.

Muhammad Taha Ansari MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control/Mechanical subsystem.

Ahmed Mohamed Bushlaibi MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Electrical Power subsystem.

Abdullah Alansari MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of the Attitude Determination and Control subsystem.

Ali Andan Al Mahmood MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of On-Board Computer/Attitude Determination and Control subsystem. Also involved in Fault, Detection, Isolation and Recovery team.

Aaliya Khan MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem. Also involved in Project Management team.

Abdullah Almesmari MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of the Mechanical subsystem.

Adham Alkhaja MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of the Attitude Determination and Control subsystem.

Ali Alhammadi MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of the Mechanical subsystem.

Ali Alqaraan MSc Electrical and Computer Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control subsystem.

Alya AlHammadi MSc Electrical and Computer Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Electrical Power subsystem.

Amina AlBalooshi MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of On-Board Computer/Attitude Determination and Control subsystem. Also involved in Risk Management and Fault, Detection, Isolation and Recovery team.

Amna Adheem MSc Engineering Systems and Management (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control/Payload subsystem.

Ashraf Khater MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of the Mechanical subsystem.

Fatama Alshehhi MSc Electrical and Computer Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Electrical Power subsystem.

Manal Alshehhi MSc Computing and Information Sciences (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of On-Board Computer team.

Muneera Al-Shaibah MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem.

Reem Alali MSc Electrical and Computer Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Electrical Power subsystem.

Safeyya Alshehhi MSc Computing and Information Sciences (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of On-Board Computer team.

Taryam Al Katheeri MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem.

Fatima Alketbi MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem.

Ruqayya Ahmed Yousef MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Mechanical subsystem. Also involved in Orbit Analysis team.

Shaima Bahumaish MSc Mechanical Engineering (Space Systems and Technology Concentration) / Member of Attitude Determination and Control subsystem. Also involved in Orbit Analysis team.

Lab Engineers

Vu Thu System Engineer

Panagiotis Dimitropoulos Software Engineer

Basel AlTawil Mechanical Engineer

Hamzeh Issa Communication Engineer

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Student Developed Nanosatellite UAE’s First-Ever Earth Observation and Technology Demonstration CubeSat

The MYSAT-1 CubeSat, designed and built by students of Khalifa University’s Master’s concentration in Space Systems and Technology in collaboration Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), and American aerospace manufacturer and defense industry company Northrop Grumman, has been successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Cygnus spacecraft.

The satellite was onboard an Antares rocket that was successfully launched from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, USA, at 4:01am on Saturday, 17 November. Present at the launch were a group of Khalifa University students and faculty who helped build and design the nanosatellite.

Developed at the Yahsat Space Lab at Khalifa University, the nanosatellite (also known as a CubeSat) will be used for educational and research purposes once it makes its final ascent to its orbital position in the beginning of 2019. It carries two payloads, including a camera to take images of the UAE from space, demonstrating the process of remote sensing, as well as an innovative lithium-ion battery developed at Khalifa University, making it the UAE’s first CubeSat with an earth observation mission and technology demonstration mission.

Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: “The successful launch of MYSAT-1, developed and built by students of Khalifa University’s Master’s Concentration in Space Systems and Technology, demonstrates that our university possesses the academic and scientific rigor required to transform the UAE’s promising students into tomorrow’s space engineers and scientists. Through our Small Satellite Program and the Master’s concentration, Khalifa University is proud to play a critical role in the UAE’s broader space ambitions. We will continue to develop local talent that will be part of the Emirati space engineers and scientists who will contribute to the UAE’s Hope Mars Mission and the vibrancy of the country’s overall space sector.”

Muna AlMheiri, Chief Human Capital Officer at Yahsat, said: “MYSAT-1’s expedition into space marks an exciting accomplishment by the students of Khalifa University. It is also a testimony to the UAE’s growing talent pool in STEM education. Yahsat is proud to have collaborated with Khalifa University and Northrop Grumman to create the first multi-disciplinary academic space program in the UAE which has resulted in the creation and successful launch of MYSAT-1, we are committed to developing the national talent pool through providing talent with unique opportunities to enhance their capabilities and drive innovation.”

The launch of MYSAT-1 to ISS took place after rigorous testing of the nanosatellite’s engineering model for space environment conditions and integration of the final launch satellite to NanoRacks’ external Cygnus Cubesat deployer. The deployer is an automated cargo resupply spacecraft destined for the International Space Station.

MYSAT-1 is the first CubeSat built at the Yahsat Space Lab at Khalifa University. The laboratory was launched in 2017 at Masdar Institute in collaboration with Yahsat and Orbital ATK – now called Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems – to develop and advance technologies within the space sector in line with the UAE’s space ambitions. It is the first space systems lab in the UAE to be equipped with Assembly Integration and Verification (AIV) facilities that cater to CubeSats of up to 6U in size��(12kg��12x24x36cm)��and a mass up to 10 kg. The lab also has a VHF/UHF/S-Band ground station capable of autonomous operations.

The Yahsat Space Lab is one of the key players in the UAE space program initiatives. The Lab is helping to develop a national space sector characterized by high-standards so that UAE achieves competitive ranking in the world in the field of industry, technology and space research. It is also paying a defining role in STEM education as well as providing career advancement opportunities in the satellite industry of the Middle East.

The lab offers students of Khalifa University’s Master’s concentration in Space Systems and Technology the facilities required to construct, test and launch of CubeSats, as part of the university’s Small Satellite Program. The high-tech and specialized facilities serve as a platform for future research in space technologies, allowing entities like the UAE Space Agency to work with the faculty on collaborative projects.

18 November 2018

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Once launched, MYSAT-2 will test student developed algorithms to determine the CubeSat’s orientation in space,��estimated to be 15% to 20% more power-efficient

Khalifa University is a step closer to launching its second satellite, MYSAT-2, into space after meeting an important milestone – the Critical Design Review (CDR) on Sunday, 23 June 2019, which wraps up the satellite’s design phase and marks the start of full-scale production in preparation for launch in Q2 2020.

MYSAT-2 is the University’s second research satellite built by faculty and students in KU’s Space Systems and Technology program. Designed as a CubeSat, or a small satellite that measures 20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm, MYSAT-2 will be built with custom software to stabilize the satellite’s ‘attitude’, or its orientation in space. A satellite’s attitude plays a critical role in determining the direction its cameras are facing.

The research team behind MYSAT-2 – which includes 10 graduate students, four undergraduate students, two faculty and two research engineers, along with engineers from industry partners Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) and Northrop Grumman – is implementing advanced attitude control algorithms to keep the satellite moving evenly through its orbit. The algorithms help determine and control the CubeSat’s orientation in space, and are estimated to be 15 to 20 percent more power-efficient, in comparison with traditional algorithms implemented on other spacecrafts.

MYSAT-1, the first CubeSat developed by Khalifa University at its Yahsat Space Lab that was launched into space on 17 November, 2018, and is expected to stay in orbit until 2021, has provided important learning opportunities to the team working on MYSAT-2.

“The successful completion of critical design review signifies another momentous occasion in the development of MYSAT-2 by our Space Systems and Technology Concentration students at the Yahsat Space Lab, with support from Northrop Grumman and Yahsat. We believe, like its predecessor, MYSAT-2 will represent our contribution to the UAE’s commitment to developing indigenous aerospace scientists, while establishing our students’ contributions to developing energy-efficient algorithms that determine the CubeSat’s orientation in space. This will help Khalifa University develop next generation satellites even more efficiently, and market the software systems to other satellite developers,” commented Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President, Khalifa University.

The CDR review panel included experts from Yahsat, Khalifa University, and Northrop Grumman. The collaborative review panel assessed the programme’s readiness and confirmed that the technical efforts are on track to proceed into fabrication, demonstration, and testing, with performance requirements being met, on budget and on schedule. Full-scale fabrication of MYSAT-2 will now begin with several intermediate internal reviews, including a software demonstration, and the flight readiness review.

“MYSAT-2’s critical design review is a milestone for Yahsat Space Lab and the CubeSat programme. Working alongside Khalifa University and Northrop Grumman to support the programme, Yahsat aims to equip the rising generation with the skills they need to advance the UAE’s space agenda. Our focus now turns to the next stages of the programme and the launch of MYSAT-2, which promises to be another leap forward for the UAE’s space ambitions,” said Mona Al Muhairi, Chief Human Capital Officer at Yahsat.

“MYSAT-2, the second satellite from our joint collaboration with Khalifa University and Yahsat, promises to open up new research avenues in spacecraft attitude control,” said Frank DeMauro, Vice President and General Manager, Space Systems, Northrop Grumman. “We congratulate the Khalifa University students in reaching the important milestone of the Critical Design Review and look forward to working with them as they prepare the satellite for a launch on the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in 2020.”

MYSAT-1 was built with two payloads, including a camera for Earth observation and an experimental lithium-ion coin cell battery developed by KU researchers. Primarily, the satellite served as an educational project for KU students. A number of pictures were taken using the onboard camera, and researchers are currently analyzing the data gathered on the battery’s performance. So far, the data has shown that the battery performed well in space.

“In MYSAT-1, we observed some issues in the software implementation that we missed during ground testing and are hoping to address them in MYSAT-2,” said Dr. Prashanth Marpu, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Manager of YahSat Space Lab. “We are improving Fault detection, isolation, and recovery algorithms and are adding the capabilities to perform autonomous operations in the absence of communication from the ground station.”

Khalifa University is also supporting the development of a third CubeSat, called MeznSat, at its Yahsat Space Lab. The collaborative satellite project is being developed in partnership between the UAE Space Agency, Khalifa University and the American University of Ras Al Khaimah. MeznSat is a 3U CubeSat that will monitor and study the Earth’s atmosphere to monitor greenhouse gas emissions above the UAE region. MeznSat is scheduled to be launched in Q1 2020.

Khalifa University and UAE Space Agency have also partnered to develop the UAE Mini Satellite Challenge, which aims to provide students interested in the fields of engineering, material sciences, and physical sciences, the opportunity to develop technology and experiments for the space environment. In the first edition of the competition, 21 teams participated with over 150 students involved. The payload proposed by New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) to detect terrestrial gamma ray flashes won the first prize. NYUAD and KU teams are now working together to realize the mission by developing the payload and the bus. The satellite is expected to be launched in Q2 2020.

“CubeSat programs like these provide hands on training for students and a unique opportunity to develop our own space components and gain flight heritage for our technologies,” Dr. Marpu shared. In the case of MYSAT-2, the team aims to get flight heritage for its attitude control software. Gaining flight heritage will help Khalifa University be able to develop next generation satellites even more efficiently, and provide the software to other satellite developers.

Through its space systems and technology concentration and dedicated space lab, Khalifa University is providing project-based learning for its students, enhancing human capital in the field of space and fostering future generations of Emirati engineers equipped with the skills and real-world experiences needed to develop the kind of breakthrough technologies required to ensure the UAE achieves its space exploration goals.

Erica Solomon
Senior Editor
26 June 2019

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