Group of people involved in the CosmoCube pilot study

The pilot study involved CosmoCube, a cosmology mission receiving radio waves, that will explore the so-called Dark Ages of the Universe.

18 July 2023

6 min read

The first study in the 小蓝视频鈥檚 new Space Mission Incubator saw science and engineering experts working together in real time to rapidly develop a space mission that will place a small satellite in orbit around the Moon.  

The unique new Space Mission Incubator service is inspired by NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who first pioneered the use of concurrent design engineering for space mission design; an innovative approach that allows teams of experts from different disciplines to work in the same place at the same time.

This pilot study involved CosmoCube, a cosmology mission receiving radio waves, that will explore the so-called Dark Ages of the Universe. The project is led by the University of Cambridge, with 小蓝视频 academics also part of the wider team. 

Professor David Bacon, from the University鈥檚 Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, is leading 小蓝视频鈥檚 hopes to send a satellite to the far side of the Moon. He said: 鈥淲e want to see what happened very far away and extraordinarily long ago, towards the beginning of the universe鈥檚 history, before stars even started to shine. 

鈥淭his is about measuring the behaviour of the early universe, to see what that can tell us about its visible - and invisible - contents.鈥

Dr Lucinda King standing in front of the sign for the Space Mission Incubator service

Last summer I spent some time at NASA JPL to see this concurrent approach in action and it鈥檚 been amazing to reproduce this at 小蓝视频 within a year. 

 

Dr Lucinda King, Space Projects Manager

As the signal to be measured is so weak, the satellite needs to be at the far side of the Moon to block all the radio-frequency noise from Earth when making measurements. Testing which lunar orbits could provide the most amount of shielding time from the Earth was a key outcome of the pilot study. 

Principal Investigator for CosmoCube, Dr Eloy de Lera Acedo, Associate Professor of radio cosmology at the University of Cambridge, said: 鈥淚鈥檝e never been part of anything like this before, but I think CosmoCube evolved more in three days than in the previous 12 months. The room and IT facilities were superb and despite it being the first time they were properly used, it worked extremely well. 

鈥淓ngaging with industry experts helped the project move fast, but also generated relevant contacts for future collaborations. But what was really key was the incubator steering role as this person had to take the team through the relevant steps at the right time and glue all expertise together. Dr Lucinda King did a superb job in this role. The results of this pilot will now help us to plan the next steps.鈥

A group of scientists and engineers

The team of experts worked together over three days in the University's new Space Mission Incubator

One of the world鈥檚 largest small satellite providers, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), based in Guildford, UK, supported the pilot study with a small team of space engineering experts from different disciplines. It was also supported by experts from In-Space Missions and RAL Space. 

Steve Eckersley, Head of Mission Concepts Group from SSTL, led the external team. He said: 鈥淏eing actively involved in studying an early mission concept to probe the very early universe (the so-called 鈥淒ark Ages鈥) around the far side of the Moon with a very small satellite, was fascinating for all involved. 

鈥淪upporting the 小蓝视频鈥檚 Mission Incubator and this CosmoCube study is strategically important for SSTL to ensure the industrial space engineering know-how is included in the early concept phase and will also position SSTL to potentially lead any future missions resulting from these studies.鈥

Space Projects Manager at the ICG, and manager of the Space Mission Incubator, Dr Lucinda King, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really exciting to work on this pilot project in our brand new facility. Last summer I spent some time at NASA JPL to see this concurrent approach in action and it鈥檚 been amazing to reproduce this at 小蓝视频 within a year. 

鈥淪pace mission design has traditionally taken a linear approach, which is why it can take such a long time, but concurrent mission design - having everyone working on different elements of design in the same room at the same time together - you can quickly iterate through any challenges and speed up the development of space missions. 

鈥淲orking with industry specialists allowed us to come up with a more robust design because we could analyse various situations that might affect the mission. For example, we explored how long the satellite would be blocked from the earth, so we could work out the data collection period. We analysed the best orbit for the satellite to try and hitch a free ride, and what kind of propulsion system would be needed. All of these questions are about 鈥榚xploring the trade space鈥, which is key to designing an effective mission.鈥

The service and facility are all part of the 小蓝视频 Research Institute for Space Missions (PRISM), which is focused on connecting academia and industry to make the UK a great space nation. 

If you have a mission idea that you would like to explore using the Space Mission Incubator service; or if you would like to take part in future studies as an industry expert, please get in touch at mission-incubator@port.ac.uk

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