10 years is a long time even in a human life. What can we say about a unique example of new technology that has been operating continuously for more than 10 years - despite the fact that its developers did not even hope that it would be able to function for more than a year or two. Because they designed and assembled a spacecraft, and not just any spacecraft, but a satellite of a new class for Ukraine, the CubeSat. Such devices are better known as “nanosatellites” because they belong to the category of ultra-small artificial Earth satellites, the emergence of which became possible due to the rapid development of microminiaturization and nanotechnology. Readers have probably already realized that we are talking about the first nanosatellite created in Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and in Ukraine in general, PolyITAN-1, which has been covering thousands of kilometers of Earth orbit every day for 10 years in a row. This is a real record, and documents have been submitted to the Ukrainian Book of Records to have it officially registered. It should be added that this seems to be a record not only for Ukraine. By the way, the first certificate of national record PolyITAN-1 brought to the university in 2014 - after its successful launch as the first such spacecraft created in Ukraine.
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It is worth reminding that the KPI nanosatellite was launched into space late in the evening on June 19, 2014, as part of the International QB50 Project, which involved three dozen other universities from 17 different countries. That is, together with PolyITAN-1, the Dnipro launch vehicle launched 32 more university nanosatellites into orbit, most of which completed their mission during the first year of flight. And now only one of this batch is flying around the Earth - the one created by KPI scientists, engineers and students under the guidance of Borys Rassamakin, a researcher at the Faculty of Heat and Power Engineering (now the Institute of IAE). Specialists in various fields - representatives of six KPI faculties - worked on the device, as it consists of four main modules-subsystems: a power supply module, a radio communication module, a control module, and a payload module.
The purpose of the development and launch of the first university nanosatellite of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was to study the design elements of the device, in particular solar sensors for small spacecraft for their further improvement and use in subsequent satellites of this series, to test the technological modes of flight; to test the energy of solar power sources developed at the university; to adapt to space conditions and improve digital channels for transmitting information from the satellite to the Earth and its control commands for future flights; to study the impact of the
And for 10 years now, it has been in Earth orbit and regularly transmits telemetry signals to the university's flight control center. The data received from it is extremely useful for researchers and engineers who have developed and are developing new university spacecraft within the KPI Space Program.
Therefore, the creators of PolyITAN-1 gathered on July 3 at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute's Department of Aviation and Astronautics History to celebrate this peculiar anniversary. “Among the team members were senior students and graduate students. More than 20 master's theses and 2 PhD theses were defended as a result of the development of individual subsystems,” said Mykhailo Ilchenko, chairman of the KPI Academic Council and vice rector for research at the university at the time, ”so the work on the device was linked to the educational process. And, of course, there was science and engineering tasks involved.” The project was an initiative, there were no customers for the satellite at the time, so the work was mostly enthusiastic and, according to Mykhailo Ilchenko, thanks to a small amount of funding for the development of individual components of the nanosatellite within other budgetary topics in the relevant area. A total of 23 people contributed their knowledge, hands, time, and desire to the creation of the first university satellite. However, not everyone could come to the meeting: some retired, some went to defend their homeland after the outbreak of a full-scale war, some were unable to work, and some are no longer alive. But the organizers of the meeting remembered everyone, and Mykhailo Ilchenko presented those who came to the meeting with the Acknowledgments of the University's Academic Council.
The small meeting began with a certain delay, because a few minutes before it opened, the university's power was turned off, making it impossible to show some of the photos and slides that have already become history on a large monitor. However, after the generator was connected, the work began - nothing can be done, such are the realities of our time. That's why no one paid any attention to the engine's close rumble. Moreover, the past seemed to have returned 10 years ago. Not even 10, but 18 years, because, according to Mykola Pershin, the developer of the radio communication subsystem, the start of work on KPI's own nanosatellite should be dated not to 2012, as is usually believed, but to May 2006. “The first official work on the creation of this satellite actually began in May 2006. It was the first research work on this topic, for which 150 thousand hryvnias were allocated on the initiative of Rector Mykhailo Zgurovsky. The executors were the Faculty of Aviation and Space Systems and the Faculty of Radio Engineering, which developed the advance project,” he said. ”A few years later, all the developments of that time were implemented in the PolyITAN-1 project, almost unchanged.”
However, the real work on the creation of the university nanosatellite really began in 2012. That's when the backbone of its development team was formed. It should be noted that such a project could not move forward without problems. For example, due to a software malfunction, the preparation of the satellite for its placement in the launch container developed by the Dutch company ISIS, which was carried out in the Netherlands, was completed only 2 days before it was sent. Already at the site where all 33 vehicles that were to be launched into space on June 19 were being installed in their designated places in the container, it turned out that the dimensions of PolyITAN-1 were 2 mm larger than the landing dimensions. We had to file (!) the solar cells located on the edge of the structure with a disk electric cutter purchased at a local tool store. There were other issues, which are interesting to recall today, but at the time they cost the developers a lot of nerves.
Nevertheless, the project turned out to be surprisingly successful! This is evidenced by a 10-year-old publication by Kyiv Polytechnic. This is an excerpt from an interview with Borys Rassamakin, head of the TEF's Nanosatellite Technology Laboratory (KP #29, 2014). “V. Mykolayenko - How long will the satellite operate? Rassamakin - The warranty period is 1 year. We can expect 1 year 4 months. The service life is determined by the duration of electronic equipment and batteries, which are negatively affected by space radiation. In general, a satellite can stay in such an orbit for about 6-7 years - until it enters the dense layers of the atmosphere and burns up due to braking...”
As you can see, even such recognized experts in their field sometimes make mistakes. But such mistakes are the result of a particularly responsible and even meticulous attitude to their own work and the work of the entire team. They are not to the detriment, but to the benefit of the business...
It was launched into orbit in 2014 by the Dnipro launch vehicle. At that time, 33 satellites from 17 countries were sent into space. But all the “competitors” of the KPI nanosatellite have already failed.
Although the PolyITAN-1 space mission was planned for only one year, it broke all records - it was already in its 10th year in Earth orbit.
This gave an impetus to the development of the space direction at Kyiv Polytechnic. KPI students began working on new satellites that conquer space and perform crucial missions today!