Project Spartnik: Microsatellite Design, Construction, Testing, and Operation by Undergraduate Students at San Jose State University

Spartnik is a microsatellite under construction at San Jose State University. Three distinct payloads are being designed, fabricated, tested, and integrated by students solely at the undergraduate level. These payloads consist of a digital color camera, a Micro-Meteorite Impact Detector, and a fairly sophisticated communications package that transmits and receives data on the amateur radio frequency band. As part of a year-long senior design project, students are distributed into seven separate subsystems in which they learn about the design and construction of their specific components and how they interact in a satellite as a whole. Significant progress has been made in all subsystem areas, with project completion slated for late 1998.