Brazilian students launch CubeSat into space in partnership with SpaceX

An educational and radio amateur partnership on its way to space this Friday (1). It is the AlfaCrux mission, which in partnership with the US company SpaceX launches a communication nanosatellite developed by university students.

The project is the result of research by engineering students and professors at the University of Brasília (UnB) and aims to test and demonstrate satellite communication experiments in the orbit of planet Earth.

In addition to UnB, the mission involves funding from FAP-DF, the Federal District Research Support Foundation (FAPDF), with the participation of the Scientific and Technological Enterprise Foundation (Finatec) and institutional support from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB).

According to the deputy director of the Portfolio Management Board of the Brazilian Space Agency, Fernanda Lins, the 1U CubeSat (10cmx10cmx10cm) can bring new link solutions in the amateur radio frequency bands.

“The solution is important for realities such as the country, with a very extensive territory and remote areas in which there is still no sophisticated communication infrastructure. In addition, it is a low-cost solution for both development and launch and operation,” he explained.

According to the researchers, the data collected will be available via the internet and can be used for research on the communication of radio amateurs, including the community, which should help the Laboratory for Simulation and Control of Aerospace Systems at UnB in monitoring the CubeSat.

For the director of the AEB, in addition to the scientific results that are expected, the partnership between the university environment and the space company is a great opportunity to train students throughout the development cycle of a space mission.

The launch aboard the Falcon-9 rocket is scheduled for 1:24 pm, Brasília time, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and can be followed by Space-X networks.

According to the company, Trasporter-4 is the fourth mission dedicated to taking small satellites like Alfacrux into space.

The mission was named after the star Alpha Crucis, the brightest star in the Southern Cross constellation (Crux).

More images and videos on site of the mission.

(Brazil Agency)