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EEUM’s Prometheus-1 satellite to be launched in January 2025

The School of Engineering at the University of Minho plans to launch its PROMETHEUS-1 (PROMETEU-1) satellite in January 2025 from the Vanderberg spaceport in California, USA, on a Space X Falcon 9 rocket. The space object will remain at an altitude of around 500 kilometers and will collect useful data for the academic and scientific community. This project takes place on the occasion of UMinho’s 50th anniversary and contributes to affirming Portuguese science and industry in space. This is ANACOM‘s third space license, following the recent MH-1 (Aeros) and ISTSat-1 satellites.

The project was conceived three years ago, when UMinho was starting its Aerospace Engineering teaching programs. The aim was to have the satellite used in different disciplines as a “case study”, from platform validation to licensing and future data collection. The satellite is like a Rubik’s cube, 5 centimeters on a side and weighing 250 grams. It contains battery management and orientation systems, microcontrollers and a camera similar to that of a cell phone to capture images. From Earth, various items will have to be assessed, such as positioning and any software errors. PROMETHEUS-1 is part of a research and teaching strategy in Aerospace Engineering and related areas that the UMinho School of Engineering (EEUM) intends to establish.

The satellite is the result of the scientific project “PROMETHEUS – PocketQube Framework Designed for Research and Educational Access to Space”, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the CMU Portugal International Partnership Program. The consortium was led by Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, from EEUM’s Industrial Electronics Department, in cooperation with the teams of Zachary Manchester, from Carnegie Mellon University (USA), who designed the initial platform, and Rodrigo Ventura and Rui Rocha, from Instituto Superior Técnico, who contributed the ground segment and shared the experience of ISTsat-1, launched in July. The companies Alba Orbital and Fossa Systems also collaborated in the integration of the small satellite.

“It’s been an incredible journey”

PROMETHEUS-1 will be launched aboard Space X’s Falcon 9 – Transporter 12 launcher, and will then remain a little below the International Space Station, the astronauts’ “laboratory”. “The launches of the MH1, ISTsat-1 and now PROMETHEUS-1 satellites are important for consolidating a base of knowledge and experience in universities and research units, which is fundamental for leveraging Portugal in the space sector,” says Alexandre Ferreira da Silva.  “We’re excited about this, our first mission, which will allow us to bring space into the classroom, whether for Aerospace Engineering or Electronic Engineering students, for example, and get our hands on these types of objects for the first time,” he explains. “It’s been an incredible journey and it will be even more so from here,” smiles the researcher from EEUM’s Center for Microelectromechanical Systems (CMEMS).

PROMETHEUS-1 owes its name to the titan who stole fire (knowledge) from the gods. The award of the license to launch, command and control this satellite involved collaboration between ANACOM and UMinho since June. “It is a milestone in this new phase in the development of the national space ecosystem, in which satellites entirely developed and built in Portugal are once again launched into Earth orbit,” said ANACOM. The license was granted under its new legal framework, which is “among the best practices”, allowing for agility, flexibility, speed and no fees. The license also safeguards the Portuguese state’s international responsibilities and national strategic interests, as well as imposing a set of duties in terms of space sustainability and safety.

Consolidated path

The new satellite reinforces UMinho’s track record in this area. Its Aerospace Engineering course had the second highest entry grade in the country (and the first in 2023). The academy’s scientific centers and interfaces have also created projects such as the design of a space capsule, the design of an astronaut suit for Mars, the exploration of new artificial materials or the production of electricity from urine and even bio-hydrogen. Its spin-off Stratosphere also has clients such as the European Space Agency, Boeing and Airbus. UMinho is also home to the MIT-Portugal Program, with several projects on space, and collaborates on these issues with CEiiA (Portugal), the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (Brazil) or the universities of Massachusetts Lowell (USA) and Vigo (Spain), among others.

SOURCE: NOS UMinho

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