Student satellite goes into orbit

Student satellite goes into orbit - World - Times Online: "A Russian booster rocket successfully carried a satellite designed by students into a low Earth orbit yesterday for the European Space Agency under a programme intended to help to inspire and train future aerospace workers.

The washing machine-sized Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative (SSETI) Express spacecraft took off from the Plesetsk launch site in northern Russia at 05.52 (BST) on top of a Kosmos 3M launcher and reached orbit minutes later.

A tracking station in Aalborg, in Denmark, picked up its signal two hours later, the space agency said. SSETI Express deployed three “picosatellites” , tiny craft weighing about 1kg (2lb) each, and will test a cold-gas system for maintaining spacecraft position. It is also due to take pictures of the Earth.

It was built by student engineering and aerospace teams in 23 university groups, with more than 400 students contributing to the project as part of degree or in their spare time. (AP)"

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