ARIS-D-ITET-PBL CubeSat team SAGE wins ESA support for Fly Your Satellite Design Booster

The mission of SAGE is to demonstrate the novel concept of a nanosatellite centrifuge in low earth orbit to induce milligravity conditions as found on small asteroids and moons. After several months of hard work, SAGE was able to compete in the ESA Fly your satellite Design Booster together with twelve teams from across Europe. In the first selection step, all shortlisted teams attended a week of expert lectures and workshops in the ESA facilities in Noordwijk, Netherlands. SAGE was consecutively selected based on the level of novelty, the academic embedding, and the technical coherence of the mission.

In the upcoming critical design phase, SAGE will start the implementation of their devised designs in hardware and software, manufacture, and test the prototypes to reach the design freeze in July. First testing campaigns involving a parabolic flight have already proved the workings of the student-designed control systems. The team is now looking forward to the environmental testing campaigns.

The Center for Project-Based Learning D-ITET (PBL) is directly involved in the project with his own staff with expertise in embedded systems, sensor fusion and machine learning. Moreover, Michele Magno and PBL staff are supporting Bachelor's, Semester's, and Master's theses dealing with this successful D-ITET flagship project.