TEKEVER SPΔCE attended the QB50 Workshop held at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) premises in Brussels, where updates on the evolution of the QB50 Initiative and the status of the QB50 Launch were presented.An EU FP7-funded project, QB50 (https://www.qb50.eu) has the scientific objective to study in situ the temporal and spatial variations of a number of key constituents and parameters in the lower thermosphere (90-320 km) with a network of 40 double CubeSats (miniaturised satellites), separated by a few hundred kilometres and carrying identical sensors. QB50 will also study the re-entry process by measuring a number of key parameters during re-entry and by comparing predicted and actual CubeSat trajectories and orbital lifetimes. QB50 will also accommodate about 10 double or triple CubeSats for In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) of technologies and miniaturised science sensors and the Gossamer-1 solar sail technology demonstration package.
At the QB50 Workshop, TEKEVER SPΔCE hosted a splinter session on the ambitious GAMANET endeavour, aiming to create the largest ad hoc communications network ever in Space, providing the networking capability to satellite constellations. This session generated a great deal of interest from workshop participants and instructive discussions took place concerning the next steps of this revolutionary initiative in space communications. TEKEVER SPΔCE's GAMANET proposition will join CubeSats and ground stations in a seamless communications network that will be instrumental to validate innovative communication technologies in space and to improve the overall QB50 communications and scientific results.
