Students in orbit
With their Celesta nanosatellite, UM students have just been selected by the European Space Agency in the "Fly Your Satellite" call for projects. These students have their feet firmly on the ground, but their heads are already in the stars...
Muriel Bernard (CSU supervisor), Denis Siveton, Baptiste Trotabas, Alexis Courtois, Maël Galliot, Raffaëllo Secondo, Xavier Laurand (CSU supervisor)
This latest addition is called Celesta. It is the latest in a series of satellites designed by students at the University of Montpellier. The first of these, named Robusta, took off from Kourou in 2012. Like its predecessors from the Montpellier University Space Center, Celesta belongs to the family of nanosatellites: concentrated pieces of technology measuring between 10 and 50 cm across.
University Space Center
The European Space Agency (ESA) Fly Your Satellite competition rewards the best university nanosatellite projects from across Europe. The success of the CELESTA project means that France is represented among the six European winners: the University of Montpellier (France), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain), University College Dublin (Ireland) and Queen's University Belfast (Ireland), the Higher Technical Institute (Portugal), Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), and the University of Southampton (United Kingdom).
Produced with the support of the European Organization for Research , Celesta aims to measure radiation in the space environment. The winning students will benefit from ESA experts monitoring their project and a free launch from the International Space Station. This is further recognition for the University Space Center (CSU) at the University of Montpellier, France's leading university space center.
Space professions
The five students from Montpellier who traveled to the Netherlands to defend their nanosatellite can now savor their success. "The panel of experts was impressive, but our experience at the Montpellier University Space Center gave us confidence in the quality of the project... This victory demonstrates the excellence of our training in nanosatellites at the Space Center and the University of Montpellier, which will be further enhanced with this follow-up award. It's exciting and encouraging for our future in space."
Partners of the University Space Center and the Van Allen Foundation, which provides financial and strategic support, big names in industry are sponsors and help these students throughout their studies. Students who are building their future in a promising field: space-related professions.
Mini maxis
Tiny satellites, huge challenge. Because nanosatellites represent a strategic niche in the highly promising market of space exploration. Their main advantage? Their price: a few hundred thousand euros, or about a thousand times less than a large geostationary satellite.
"This is an asset that allows us to test the viability of new technologies without too much risk: evaluating their resistance to cosmic radiation, for example," explains Laurent Dusseau, director of the University Space Center. "Nanosatellites thus enable us to overcome the final barrier before commercialization. In exchange, they benefit from pioneering technologies."