Campus and Community

ISTSat-1: Satellite developed entirely at Técnico reaches space

Hitching a ride on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, ISTSat-1 will become the first Portuguese university nano-satellite to be launched into space.

The anticipation is palpable – and no wonder. A sea of heads stares intently at the large screen set up in the atrium of the Oeiras campus of the Instituto Superior Técnico at 7:59 p.m. on July 9, waiting for the countdown from French Guiana to reach zero and for the Ariane 6 rocket to take off. For many of these people, an acquaintance is on board – ISTSat-1, the first Portuguese university nanosatellite to be launched into space, built entirely at Técnico by Técnico researchers and students from the IST NanoSat Lab, who are now holding their breath until the clock strikes 00:00:00.

And the moment finally arrived. After igniting the engines and climbing through the atmosphere, the tension was managed in stages as the flight director’s voice announced “trajectoire nominale!” every 20 seconds. – confirmation that everything was going according to plan. At the Oeiras hub, there were several waves of applause as the vehicle approached the 580-kilometer mark, the altitude at which ISTSat-1 will circle the planet. Once the orbit has been established, the activity and data collected by the satellite will be monitored by the Technician’s team at the ground station in Oeiras. The main purpose of this equipment is to monitor the presence of aircraft in remote areas of the planet that are difficult to detect from the surface.

The afternoon was taken up by an event in anticipation of the launch in French Guiana, attended by Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Luís Ferreira, Rector of the University of Lisbon, Isaltino Morais, Mayor of Oeiras, members of the teams involved in building the nano-satellite and other curious participants.

Rogério Colaço, Técnico’s president, opened the ceremony by confessing to “some nervousness after years of work and effort to create a satellite capable of passing the European Space Agency’s (ESA) tests.” “If there’s one thing that Técnico can do,” he said, “it’s make dreams come true, whether that’s building a satellite or inaugurating a spin-off, a unicorn.” The professor guaranteed that this was an important step in the country’s entry into the space race, a race that he considers to be “absolutely crucial for Portugal, whether it’s to monitor air, sea or land space”. The launch of this satellite represented, for him, “the passing of the Cape of Storms” in this area, a “point of no return” in the country’s aerospace development, comparable to the first steps taken hundreds of years ago by the navigators who then began to explore the oceans.

“Congratulations, Technician! Thank you, Technician!”. With these words of jubilation, the rector of the University of Lisbon, Luís Ferreira, saluted the role of the School and the more than 50 teachers, researchers and students in the construction and launch of ISTSat-1. “Going further, changing people’s lives, solving the country’s and the world’s problems – that’s what Técnico does and, therefore, it’s a great source of pride to have it at the University of Lisbon,” proclaimed the rector.

Choosing from 13 competing universities that presented their prototypes to travel aboard Ariane 6, ESA’s education department selected Técnico and five other university institutions to join the ‘Fly Your Sattelite!’ program (at the final launch, along with Técnico, only the Polytechnic University of Catalonia also put a satellite on board). The initiative sought to support students to build, test and launch their satellites, providing technical support, test infrastructures and funding for the launch in French Guiana. With this incentive, the development of ISTSat-1 (which had been underway since 2008) gained momentum, culminating in this launch, sponsored at Técnico by Técnico professors and researchers Moisés Piedade (Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering – Research and Development) and Rui Rocha (Institute of Telecommunications), the latter accompanying the process on site.

The event’s program included a debate that took place in the shadow of Baltasar, the first Portuguese rocket to be successfully launched and recovered, on display next to the stage. Moisés Piedade, one of the mentors of the project that gave rise to ISTSat-1, recalled that in making this satellite, researchers and students created the components from scratch, “showing that Portugal has this capacity”. Zita Martins, Técnico’s vice-president for International Affairs and leader of an ESA scientific advisory committee for the exploration of the Solar System, stressed the school’s role in the area of space sciences, recalling that “Técnico had the first Astrobiology laboratory in the country and was the first institution to teach in this area”. “We have leading scientific laboratories with links to ESA and the Japanese Space Agency,” he said

Fernando Lau, coordinator of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering, expressed his desire to see this engineering play a role in civil transportation and the supply chain, so that Portugal can benefit from early entry into this industry. Júlia Martinho, a member of Técnico’s Aerospace Engineering Group (AeroTéc) representing the Rocket Experiment Division (RED), shared that “projects like this are essential for students; they’re what help us make our career choices”. “I feel that RED was very important for me, as I had contact with many areas early on in my degree,” she said, by way of example.

The event also marked the creation of the Oeiras Valley Space Hub, a partnership between Técnico, Oeiras City Council, the Center for Engineering and Development (CEiiA) and the AED Cluster with a view to boosting a technological hub in the area of space sciences in that municipality.

The IST NanoSat Lab project received financial support from Técnico, the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering: Research and Development (INESC-ID), the Telecommunications Institute (IT) and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IDMEC). It also had the participation of members of the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR Lisboa), as well as the support of various companies linked to the sector.

Photo gallery