UW Orbital aims to produce the first CubeSat developed out of the University of Waterloo to make it to space, aspirationally within 2-4 years, realistically within 5-10 years, in pursuit of developing a well-established space program at the university, to get students involved in the industry early in their career.
CubeSats are low-cost, small-footprint alternatives to traditional multi-million dollar satellites which carry specialized science, communications, or biological payloads. The affordability of CubeSat allows for more simplified designs and rapid development timelines, providing a path for student organizations to get involved in the space industry.
As a member of the Firmware subdivision, I work with team members to ensure the functionality of the satellite's low-level software, including
CDH (Command Data Handling), Communications, Payload, EPS (Electrical Power Systems), and Attitude Determination.
Canadian Satellite Design Challenge
We are participating in the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC) - a competition that involves a dozen universities from across Canada and runs every two years. Teams design a 3U CubeSats with unique missions and payloads, and attempt to pass launch readiness evaluations such as vibration testing. The competition offers to fund the launch costs for the winning team.