Small Satellite Research Laboratory

CubeSat builder at the University of Georgia

UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory

SSRL

Established| 2015–2016[1]
Research type| Remote Sensing, Cube Satellite Development, Spectral Sensors

Field of research

| Remote Sensing, Space AI, CubeSats, Small Satellites
Dean| Dr. Anna Stenport[2]
Director| Dr. Deepak Mishra [3]
Staff| Sydney Whilden (Lab Manager), Dr. David L. Cotten (Past Associate Director)
Alumni| [4]
Location| Athens, Georgia
33°56′56″N 83°22′31″W﻿ / ﻿33.948847°N 83.375237°W﻿ / 33.948847; -83.375237

ZIP code

| 30602
Campus| University of Georgia
Affiliations| University Nanosatellite Program, NASA Ames Research Center[5]
Website| smallsat.uga.edu

The University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL) is a research laboratory which builds CubeSats for Earth observation.

The laboratory was conceived of in late 2015 and officially materialized in 2016 through a collaboration of faculty and students.[6] Its original goal was to launch a student-built spacecraft into low Earth orbit, which it accomplished in 2020 with the Spectral Ocean Color imager (SPOC).[6] Its current focuses are remote Earth observation (remote sensing) and space-based artificial intelligence.[7] The lab is notable for its high number of undergraduate participants; as of the 2024 spring semester, over 300 students had been members of the lab for some period of time between 2016 and 2024.[8]

The SSRL has a Space Act Agreement with the NASA Ames Research Center.[5][9]

## Founding

[edit]

In 2015, three undergraduate students at the University of Georgia (Caleb Adams, Graham Grable, and Nicholas "Hollis" Neel) had the idea to found an aerospace start-up. Two of the three students had been part of a previous start-up through an accelerator program at the university. Adams and Neel co-founded a company called Spacey Sciences, LLC.[10] The students' initial idea was to build a large, remote-operated, 3D-printed telescope.[11] In a single night, they built a prototype of the telescope at VTHacks in February of 2015.[11]

The project was originally intended to be crowdfunded on Kickstarter, but it grew in scope and complexity over time, driving Adams, Neel, and Grable to seek faculty support and research funding. Adams began emailing UGA faculty, and ultimately connected with Dr. Marshall Shepherd in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Geography.[12]

The Department of Geography was intrigued by the potential to use CubeSats for Earth observation.[12] Shepherd put the students of Spacey Sciences, LLC in touch with then-associate professor Dr. Deepak R. Mishra and research scientist Dr. David Cotten, who were investigating the possibility of CubeSats for observation of near-coastal ocean health and productivity.[12] The founding group of students entered into collaboration with Mishra and Cotten, forming the rudiments of the Small Satellite Research Laboratory.[12]

As of November 2015, the collaboration was known as the "CubeSat project", with Adams serving as the student leader.[13][10] In October of 2020, the Small Satellite Research Laboratory launched Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC).[6]

Currently, the lab works with two entities: the Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite Program is funding the construction of one 6U CubeSat, while Let's Go to Space, Inc. is funding the MEMESat-1 mission, a 2U CubeSat.[14][15]

The SSRL now consists of over 50 members, and marks the first attempt at a space program at the University of Georgia.[16] The SSRL has stated that it plans to become the university's premier space program, and to establish the school's continual presence in space.[17] This will make the University of Georgia one of the first institutions in the state of Georgia to send a complete satellite into space.[18][19]

## Missions

[edit]

### The Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC) imager

[edit]

SPOC

Mission type| Climate Research
Operator| UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass| 3.99 kilograms (8.8 lb)
Dimensions| 10cm x 10cm x 34.05cm
Start of mission
Launch date| October 2, 2020
Rocket| Antares 230+
Launch site| Wallops Flight Facility
Contractor| Northrop Grumman
Deployment date| November 5, 2020
End of mission
Decay date| June 25, 2022[20]
Main telescope
Wavelengths| 400nm–900nm
Instruments
Hyperspectral Sensor

The Spectral Ocean Color imager, known as SPOC, was a 3U CubeSat.[6] It was the University of Georgia's first satellite mission.[21] SPOC was launched to the International Space Station on October 2, 2020 from NASA Wallops Flight Facility onboard the Cygnus NG-14 commercial resupply spacecraft. On November 5, 2020, SPOC was deployed from the International Space Station via the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer, where it officially began its mission.

The SPOC satellite was selected in by the NASA's Undergraduate Student Instrument Project and NASA's eight CubeSat Launch Initiative to be built in 2016-2018 and launched in 2018, 2019, or 2020.[19][22][21]

The primary objective of the SPOC Satellite mission was to perform the first moderate resolution multispectral analysis of the following phenomena off the Georgia coast from low earth orbit: vegetation heath, primary productivity, ocean productivity, near-coastal sediment, organic matter, and mapping the production of shelf waters and salt marshes. The SSRL also sought to build a unique Georgia coastal imagery library that aggregates and classifies all gathered data from SPOC.[6] Data from the SPOC mission will supplement the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research Program's data with data of Sapelo Island from orbit. The data sets generated by the SPOC satellite will be comparable to NASA's MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite from the spectral ranges of 450nm - 900nm.[23]

### The Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager (MOCI) Satellite

[edit]

MOCI

Mission type| Technology Demonstration
Operator| UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory
Website| http://smallsat.uga.edu
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass| 3.99 kilograms (8.8 lb)
Dimensions| 10cm x 20cm x 34.05cm
Instruments
CCD Imaging System

The Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager Satellite, known as the MOCI satellite, is a 6U CubeSat that will be the University of Georgia's second satellite. The MOCI satellite was selected in the ninth iteration of the University Nanosatellite Program, UNP-9.[21] The primary mission of the MOCI satellite will be to perform structure from motion (SfM) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and generate 3D point clouds on a landscape scale to generate Digital Elevation Models. This will be the first time a CubeSat has specialized in building 3D models using structure from motion. MOCI will employ customize algorithms for feature extraction, structure from motion, surface reconstruction, data compression, and oceanic anomaly detection.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory Team and History
2. ^ "Dean's Office | Franklin College of Arts and Sciences".
3. ^ Faculty of the UGA Center Geospatial Research  Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "Uga SSRL".
5. ^ a b Small Satellite Research Lab receives Space Act Agreement from NASA Ames Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ a b c d e Whilden, Sydney; Mishra, Deepak; Cotten, David L.; Neel, Nicholas (2022). "Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC): Lessons Learned from the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory's First Satellite". Small Satellite Conference. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
7. ^ "UGA SSRL". smallsat.uga.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
8. ^ "UGA SSRL". smallsat.uga.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
9. ^ Satellite Team Students attend Small Satellite Conference and have Program Management Review with the Air Force Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ a b Falcon @miae467, Mia (2015-10-28). "Student group races against Georgia Tech to launch satellite into space". The Red & Black. Retrieved 2024-03-11.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. ^ a b "Programmers, developers gather for 36-hour VTHacks marathon". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
12. ^ a b c d Georgia, Aaron Hale University of. "Prospect of space launch looking up for UGA students, faculty". Online Athens. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
13. ^ Falcon @miae467, Mia (2015-11-14). "Student 'hackers' create community for computer scientists". The Red & Black. Retrieved 2024-03-11.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
14. ^ "Enhancing STEM Education through CubeSats: Using Satellite Integration as a Teaching Tool at a Non-Tech School" (PDF). UGA. Retrieved 28 Feb 2017.
15. ^ "MEMESat-1 | Let's Go to Space". Retrieved 2024-03-16.
16. ^ "Students' satellites could launch space program for UGA". Athens Online. Retrieved 28 Feb 2017.
17. ^ UGA Small Satellite Research Lab plans launch for 2018
18. ^ Student group races against Georgia Tech to launch satellite into space
19. ^ a b "NASA Announces Eighth Class of Candidates for Launch of CubeSat Space". NASA. Archived from the original on 2023-01-22.
20. ^ "SPOC". N2YO.com. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
21. ^ a b c UGA team selected by NASA, Air Force to build and launch two cube satellites
22. ^ "NASA Selects Proposals for Student Flight Research Opportunities". NASA. Retrieved 27 Feb 2017.
23. ^ The SPectral Ocean Color (SPOC) Small Satellite Mission: From Payload to Ground Station Development and Everything in Between