September 16, 2020 - Guest Authors: Robert Bruns, Wiebke Retagne, Hanjo Schnellbächer, Fabian Burger, Roman Frels (Publisher: Pouya Haschemi)
With our new format Spotlight on Space Talents, we want to open a platform for young and talented groups, students, NGOs, universities and other people from the so-called "space generation". In this edition, we would like to present the student organization TUDSaT from the Technical University of Darmstadt:
TUDSaT e.V.
TU Darmstadt Space Technology (TUDSaT) was born in August 2016, as a group of 10 people realized the growing interest in all things space related among students of the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany. This intuition has proven to be accurate over the last 4 years, as the organization now has over 120 members from more than 10 different disciplines, all sharing the same interest in space flight. The association is organized into three sections, most noticeably the CubeSat- and the Rocket-team, where all things technical are discussed. The third part is the PR-Team, where the goal is to ignite the passion for space among the general population.
“As resources are redistributed, we will seize this opportunity to get involved in space travel” says 1. Chair of TUDSaT, Robert Bruns. “The stars have never been so close, the enthusiasm for space travel is immense and our students are eager to prove themselves in the disciplines of astronautics.”
CubeSat-Team
Space safety and sustainability are emerging challenges in the space industry, with ESA contributing 400 Million Euro out of their budget towards research. TUDSaT is at the forefront of this development by conducting research of optical identification methods which will help to locate objects in space and track their movement.
Fabian Burger, the CubeSat Project Manager explains: “for this purpose we utilize passive retroreflectors and reflective foils not unlike cyclist use them on their bicycle and vest to broadcast to any observer with a headlight their attitude and movement to simplify collision avoidance.” Besides localization, identification after multi satellite launches is especially difficult. Therefore, the team plans to demonstrate an active optical identification payload, which tackles this challenge. “With our mission, we will prove that space safety can be increased for the benefit of everyone without great cost.”
Although with the previously mentioned payload the mission return is already satisfying, another objective is to contribute to the growing open source community by creating an open source CubeSat-Platform. “By doing so, we give other teams the opportunity to build on existing development without having to start from scratch”, adds Wiebke Retagne, second Chair of TUDSaT. This frees up time for other relevant tasks, like working on the mission.
Rocket-Team
Besides the development of a CubeSat, TUDSaT started the development of their own sounding rockets. Solid and hybrid rocket engines are common among student groups and a great way to get started with rocketry. “Their professional significance however is minor, and we are striving for a System that can contribute to current scientific questions”, declares Roman Frels, Rocket Project Manager of TUDSaT. “Therefore, we decided to build a liquid fuelled rocket.” Additionally, a liquid fuelled system has the potential to not only break the European Apogee Record for student teams, but also to raise the bar a lot higher for times to come.
Right from the start, it was clear to the team that the engine would be the most challenging part of the rocket, regarding development effort as well as raising necessary funds. The development was started by dividing the system into smaller subsystems e.g. igniter, injector, ignition chamber. Testbenches for the igniter and injector will be implemented soon. Subsequently they will undergo some design iterations. “When deemed adequate the subsystems will be integrated into an engine testbench, which will be used to design the final engine”, explains Roman.
The way Forward
TUDSaT is currently financed via donations. Hanjo Schnellbächer, the Treasurer of TUDSaT discloses the associated issues: “One big current challenge for us is fundraising.We hope to attract more sponsors, as sufficient funding becomes crucial in order to progress through the upcoming stages of development in each project respectively."
At the same time Robert is enthusiastic about the current situation: “We are proud to host so many talented young minds. It is an honour to see how ideas come to life.”
But the team also struggles, admittedly, with everyday obstacles, like collaboration, lack of workspaces and the ever so gruesome exam period. Despite that, the team is iterating fast and continuously, part after part the projects are being pushed further.
“Thanks to our supporters, our Alma Mater and most of all our talented engineering staff, we are on the verge of being able to start building”, complements Wiebke. “But we lack space and resources. As we lack professional workspaces, our work depends on your support.”
Continue the story behind the young Space Talents of TUDSaT on their social media as well as their Website.
