Pakistani Students collaborated with a team of Chinese Students in designing and developing a satellite at China’s Beihang University. On the 14th of October, they blasted off aboard a Long March-2D rocket in North China’s Taiyuan city. One of the Pakistani students Zeenat Rajar whose was a part of the project said that: “I had the unique opportunity to study and analyze the Electric Power Subsystem (EPS) of SSS-1. My focus was the solar array used to power SSS-1 onboard equipment.” They have named their satellite as Student Small Satellite (SSS).
According to Beihang University, SSS-1 is a 30kg micro-satellite with a dimension of no more than 350mm × 350mm × 650 mm. The satellite is one of the three student satellites (namely SSS-1, SSS-2A, and SSS-2B) that construct a constellation named as APSCO SSS system.
It is learned that SSS-2A, led by China’s Shanghai Jiaotong University and supported by student researchers from countries such as Pakistan, was launched on the same day (Oct 14) as SSS-1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre.
Zeenat Rajar noted, “The rare experience and the knowledge that I gained by working on the SSS-1 project has opened new perspectives for my future career as well as study goals by providing a boost to my passion for space education.”
The Student Small Satellite (SSS) project, which was initiated by the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation (APSCO), aims to train the students and faculties from Member States (MSs) of APSCO to study space technology and satellite engineering through the practical design of satellites. Meanwhile, they also aim to contribute to the development of space education systems in APSCO MSs. The ultimate goal of this project is not only to enable universities to undertake student satellite design and development but also to impart space technologies through a satellite project as well as hands-on training.
