Project Draft Assignment
March 6, 2014
For many years research organizations and universities have been struggling to launch scientific payloads into space. In the past, groups had to submit proposals to ride along NASA or United States Air Force launches as “secondary payloads”. If selected, they had to custom make a small spacecraft, or figure out a way to attach their experiment to the primary payload. In 1999, California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University developed the CubeSat concept. The basic premise of the CubeSat miniature satellite is to create a standard platform so that all universities and research organizations would have access to space research.
Since the creation of the CubeSat platform there have been numerous experiments sent to space benefiting from this technology. Most have come from universities and a few have even hosted high school payloads. While this platform has been very successful, there is still room for improvement. While the CubeSat itself follows a standard, each experiment and payload within the CubeSat unique, thus requiring significant resources to custom make specialty components. One key factor lowering the costs in development has been the implementation of 3d printers within the research institutions. This allows students and teachers to create quick flight ready prototypes in order to build out their payloads. This is where the CubeSat 3D Printing Townsquare comes into play.
Even with the advantages of utilizing 3d printers to develop CubeSat experiments, many research teams spend a significant amount of time trying out different ways to 3d print their components. Many of these teams are mostly focused on the science and not the engineering so the 3d printing development cycle can even be a nuisance. My proposal is for an online platform for researchers, students and contractors to share their 3d printed component designs and even reach out to each other for additional help. Users will be able to browse existing designs, upload their own designs, and communicate with one another. The aim is to share innovation, speed up development time and forge new professional relationships amongst folks in this field.
Sources
- • http://www.livescience.com/25044-3d-printing-a-low-cost-satellite.html
- • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat
- • http://www.cubesatshop.com