Space

SPACE (MARPU AND GHEDIRA ON INFRASTRUCTURE

• Cubesats (Marpu)

CUBESATS

The CubeSat program at Khalifa University is the first multidisciplinary academic space program in the UAE where a CubeSat project is integrated into an MSc program. As part of the program conducted at the Yahsat Space Lab at Khalifa University, students design, build and test a CubeSat satellite that is ultimately launched into space. Yahsat is the first space systems lab in the UAE to be equipped with assembly integration and verification (AIV) facilities that cater to CubeSats of up to 6U in size and a mass up to 10 kg. The lab also has a VHF/UHF/S-Band ground station capable of autonomous operations.

MYSAT-1 is the first CubeSat built at the Yahsat Space Lab at Khalifa University. The laboratory was launched in 2017 at Masdar Institute in collaboration with Yahsat and Orbital ATK – now called Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems – to develop and advance technologies within the space sector in line with the UAE’s space ambitions.

The MYSAT-1 CubeSat, designed and built by students of Khalifa University’s Master’s concentration in Space Systems and Technology in collaboration with Yahsat and Orbital ATK was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Cygnus spacecraft in November 2018. MYSAT-1 will be used for educational and research purposes once it makes its final ascent to its orbital position in the beginning of 2019. It carries two payloads, including a powerful camera used to demonstrate the process of remote sensing by taking images of the UAE from space , as well as an innovative lithium-ion battery developed at Khalifa University: it the UAE’s first CubeSat with an earth observation mission and technology demonstration mission.