CrowdSat

I have a number of student friends in India and a few other parts of the world that want to build a small satellite. That's how this CrowdSat idea got started.

First, I've been advising the SEDSAT-2 guys and girls as they attempt to design a satellite. The problem for me, as a systems engineer in my "real" life, is to understand the connections between the SEDSAT-2 members, who range from the Philippines to the UK to the US and a number of places in between. How do they communicate? How do they share their information? How do they get from point A to point B in their design? (How do they know where point B is when they are at point A?)

I'm no expert. I'm 26, and on 30 October -- coincidentally, my dad's birthday -- I'll complete my one year anniversary as a systems engineer at Orbital Sciences Corporation. CrowdSat is how I am going to get expert advice for these students and, by teaching them the fundamentals of small satellite design, learn about many of the points myself.

Anyway... that's the background. Looking forward, I think I'll keep this project as simple as possible. Students will have questions. I will find answers, and when possible, I will find people with a lot more experience than me to give the answers; let's be objective, I don't know all that much more than the students.

The first question comes from Amrut, a graduate student at Christ College in Bangalore. Amrut invited me to make a presentation to his physics classmates at Christ College when I was in India in September. He also was one of the organizers of the Astronautical Society of India's Student Chapter. What does he want to do with his ASI friends? You probably guessed it: build a satellite.

My advice: approach this like a business plan. Who will your investors be? What is your market? What resources will you need? What staff do you need? What is your timeline? What is your objective?

I'll address a few of these in brief, but I will chiefly rely on questions to advance the point.

1) The most important question to ask yourself: why? What is your objective? What makes your project unique enough for someone to invest their time or money in it? For a university, it might be enough to say "this is the first satellite that has ever been built by our university" or "this will be the first CubeSat launched by India." At the university level, CubeSats = education. But, in my limited experience in working with Indians, you should also pursue a practical purpose and bring some real benefits back from your mission.

2) What is your product? It's not just the satellite that is your product -- it's the data you receive and how you use it. It's also, I think, how your team is seen by the "outside world," that is, how you market your efforts. For your university and for your future employment in the industry, it is also important to consider that the knowledge and experience you gain is also a product that you are developing, because you will be better satellite scientists and engineers if you have experience.

3) What is your strategy to complete the mission? Consider your timeline -- recruiting a team, designing and reviewing, testing and integrating, searching for a launch provider, searching for sponsors. It all takes time. How will you get from point A (nothing) to point B (your satellite in orbit, sending data to Earth)?

4) What resources will you need to complete your mission? Of course, the first thing in your mind will be money. It's a valid point, but let's save it for later. Also consider that you should have experienced technical mentors. You will need tools for building and labs for testing. You will need materials. Sometimes you will need to travel. Most important: you will need a launch vehicle! Know what you need so that you can go and get it.

5) What staff will you need? For the most part, this will be your scientists and engineers, your fellow students. But consider also that you will need people to develop and operate the ground stations, people to crunch the data, people to get the money and publicity. It is like running a company in some regards.

6) What finances will you need? Launching a satellite is very expensive, much more expensive than actually building it. Consider how much you need. Consider also -- and this is very important -- that as a student, it is often possible for you to get in-kind donations, that is, to get donations of materials or lab time or other goods and services that you would otherwise spend money for. Not spending money for something is a great thing.

I think of this part of your project -- the proposal -- as the business end of your satellite. The engineering side will have its own unique approach, turning your objective into a series of methods to achieve it, then understanding the driving systems requirements, then trading your different approaches to find the best approach, etc. So what I tried to do here is take my best guess at how you should get started. I will try to get some more experienced people here soon to help. Remember: I am no expert.

What do you think?