Challenges

Spaceport Cornwall

Title: What would be the best environmental usage of a future satellite launched from Cornwall be, for Cornwall?

Description: In 2022 Cornwall will be home to the first ever launch from UK soil, delivering satellites into low Earth orbit through their partnership with Virgin Orbit. On board the first ever launch will be KernowSat-1 (Kernow means Cornwall in the Cornish language). This satellite will be launched with a purpose of providing specific environmental data to help Cornwall work towards carbon neutrality as highlighted in their Carbon Neutral Action Plan.

Although these satellites are launched to benefit Cornwall, there is hope that any data captured will be scalable to support the UK and ultimately the world with carbon neutral objectives. After KernowSat-1, there is hope that there will be a KernowSat 2, 3, 4 and more on future launches. The first satellite, KernowSat-1, is focussed on addressing maritime environmental monitoring challenges and it is hoped that future KernowSat missions will address other environmental and local, community, and society challenges.

You must design a satellite mission focused on an environmental objective in Cornwall. You will have to define the mission objectives, considering the potential benefits to Cornwall and the wider population, as well as selecting a suitable payload and orbit.

Other factors to consider will include the complexity (and ultimately cost) of the satellite, link budget and any sensors required on the ground, scalability and how that may work, and how specific the application is and if it could be widened to also carry out other supporting functions.

Spaceport Cornwall are able to launch a range of different sized satellites, from small cubesats measuring 10cm x 10cm x 10cm and weighing 1kg, up to satellites roughly 1m3 and weighing 300kg.

Minimum Submission Criteria:

  • Documentation detailing the environmental objective of the mission and justification of how it caters to Cornwall's needs, including the benefits to Cornwall and the wider population
  • Documentation on payload instrumentation to be used
  • Documentation on the mission geometry (orbits, points and regions of interest)

Additional Recommended Submission Criteria:

  • Further technical specification of the payload (physical characteristics, thermal characteristics, operational modes)
  • Technical specification of other satellite subsystems
  • Specification of the satellite platform (form factor, solar panel configuration/size/orientation, power module, battery module, communications, OBDH, AOCS)
  • Specification of the ground segment (ground stations)
  • Specification of the mission link budget
  • Simulations of the above (link budget, mission geometry, area of interest coverage)
  • Documentation detailing the budgeting of the mission
  • Documentation on how the mission could be upscaled to a national or global level

Resources:

Prize: VIP Invite to the first Spaceport Cornwall launch and company merchandise.

European Space Agency

Title: How can sea ice thickness data from Envisat and CryoSat-2 be visualised to demonstrate its role as an Essential Climate Variable?

Description: Polar sea ice is both an indicator and a driver of global climate change. We now have over 40 years of satellite data (since the late 1970s) to directly monitor its evolution in a number of key parameters.

The Sea Ice project at the European Space Agency’s Climate Office aims to advance the retrieval capability for two main variables of the Sea Ice Essential Climate Variable (ECV), one of which is sea ice thickness (SIT).

To demonstrate the importance of sea ice thickness in monitoring climate change, you must design an application, visualisation tool, or resource with data from Envisat and CryoSat-2 to explore changing ice thickness levels in the Southern Hemisphere.

Important considerations will include ease of use, reliability, effectiveness of representation, and interactivity.

Minimum Submission Criteria:

  • Prototype of data visualisation tool using a subset of the data from Envisat and Cryo-Sat 2

Additional Recommended Submission Criteria:

  • Full use of Envisat and Cryo-Sat 2 data
  • Fully functioning visualisation tool
  • Documentation on design and function of tool
  • Information on the importance of monitoring sea ice thickness as an Essential Climate Variable within the tool
  • Information on the implication/meaning of changes in sea ice thickness within the tool

Resources:

Prize: TBC

SSPI

Title: How can we raise awareness of the importance of space in fighting climate change in the UK?

Description: Space is critical to the fight against climate change. Earth observation (EO) satellites play a crucial role by providing the means to constantly and consistently monitor Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). Space technologies have also led to a number of inventions that benefit the environment and help save energy back here on Earth, including systems to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in vehicles and improvements to renewable energy sources.

Despite this, many members of the public aren’t aware of the importance of supporting and developing space infrastructure. This challenge focuses on increasing this awareness, which can be achieved in a variety of ways.

You must design an initiative to educate people about the benefits of using space for fighting climate change. This could be a social media campaign, a blog, a short film, a series of workshops, or something else entirely!

Minimum Submission Criteria:

  • Documentation detailing the nature and structure of your initiative

Additional Recommended Submission Criteria:

  • Prototype example of your initiative (this can be in the format of a blog post, social media post, video, workshop material etc.)
  • Documentation detailing implementation strategy of the initiative
  • Documentation detailing budgeting of the initiative
  • Anything else deemed important to your submission

Resources:

  • Talk from AB5 Consulting
  • Talk from Inmarsat
  • Further resources TBC

Prize: Funding from SSPI towards making your initiative a reality, and organisational aid from UKSEDS.